Nice to Meet Ya
by Night-Huntress019
Summary: It all started with three words. "Hi, I'm Alfred." Such a simple phrase sent my world tumbling into chaos and constant headaches. But... Maybe it also gave me hope... Warning, SEVERE DEPRESSION! It's a Hurt/Comfort for a reason. I've changed the rating to T because I don't plan on posting explicitly sexual content for now but I will change it back if I think I will later.
1. Introduction

**A/N: **Cat here. This story has gotten an extreme face lift since the last post so entire chapters have been changed and an extra one has snuck into the middle of ones previously released. Unfortunately, I have experienced something very similar to Arthur in this story in my real life. Readers that have been with this story since the beginning will probably be able to guess what happened but because of it, I can understand Arthur's emotions all too well now. For new readers, I apologize for the vague explanation but when it gets to that part of the story, you'll be able to understand. I will now say I do not own Hetalia, any of its characters, and any similarities to real life are just coincidence. That last part was just what Usagi-san makes sure to always say so I should probably do the same. He is the senpai of all the perverted like moi =^_^= Enough with my babbling, on with the story that many people have waited for.

_**o.V.o**_

It all started with three words. "Hi, I'm Alfred." Such a simple phrase sent my world tumbling into chaos and constant headaches.

Maybe I should start a little earlier than _him._ I'm Arthur Kirkland, a senior in high school. I moved here to America this year from my old school in England. I'll get to the why eventually but for now you just need to know that I was from England and am now in America.

I didn't mind how isolated I was nor how invisible everyone saw me to be. I was quite content with it, besides the occasional comment on my different accent. I was able to get my work done in a timely manner at least.

This splendid isolation ended once my guardian grew _concerned _at my lack of interaction. He _insisted _I do something and recommended joining a club.

I chose to join the one club that I could still remain invisible to everyone: Anime Club.

I didn't understand even half the things they were talking about but at least all we did was watch cartoons from Japan. That provided the perfect excuse to not talk.

Plus they only met once every other Wednesday so it wasn't like it happened all the time. It was only a twice a month obligation.

However, after one meeting, I was practically dragged to hang out with one annoying American as he uttered those words. "Hi, I'm Alfred."

My world would never be the same again.

_**o.V.o**_


	2. Chapter 1 Hi, I'm Alfred

**A/N: **For now, I will be posting chapters the day they actually occur. This story isn't 100% done yet but now I know how I will end it, which was the problem I had with trying to finish it in the first place when I originally posted this story. Since it's October 1st and Wednesday, you get both the introduction chapter and the October 1st chapter. I doubt I need to put a disclaimer on this but I will anyway. I do not own post-it notes, neon or otherwise. Enjoy~!

_**o.V.o**_

It was the first of October.

I was gathering my things at the end of the club meeting, ignoring the other members' broken Japanese and plans to hang out when I felt eyes on me. I ignored the feeling, thinking someone was just curious about who the dark presence in the corner was.

"Dude, when did he get here?" I heard someone loudly ask. Probably the pair of eyes watching me.

"I don't know… I didn't even notice him until just now…" one person answered.

_Well that's lovely. I've managed to be completely invisible. _I thought as I finished packing up the homework I had done during the meeting.

"Oh, he's been here the entire meeting. He paid his dues and joined a few weeks ago." I recognized the voice of the club president, the only person I had bothered to talk to once when I joined and, as she said, that was to only pay the dues and formally join.

"Really?! Wow, I must be blind!" There was a slight pause from the discussion about me as everyone made a joke about his statement then he continued with his questions. "What's his name?"

I was getting slightly annoyed at how they continued to talk as if I wasn't there but continued to listen.

"Actually, I can't remember… He signs in with his last name…"

I got up and started to walk out the door when someone grabbed my arm. I turned to face whoever it was and saw a taller boy wearing glasses smiling down at me. "Hi, I'm Alfred. Nice to meet ya!" He greeted, not releasing his hold on me. I recognized his voice as the one asking all the questions about me. "Want to go to the nearby Café with me? I've never been but everyone really recommends it. Plus, I don't want to go alone."

Before I could respond, the annoying boy dragged me to said Café. Despite my protests, he wouldn't release me until he had me seated in a booth. He then sat in the booth facing me when he was certain I wouldn't bolt for the door. I started to protest, saying I needed to get home soon.

"Dude, just chill. I'll grab us some coffee and something to munch on." He stood up and started to walk away before looking over his shoulder and asking "Do you want any cream or sugar?"

"Sure…" I muttered, unsure of what to do. I waited awkwardly, wondering how I could leave without being rude. Soon he returned with a bag in one hand and two small cups of coffee on a cup carrier in the other hand.

"Hold on a second and I'll go back to grab some cream and sugar." He set down his purchases. I waited until he returned. He pulled a small box out of the bag and handed it to me. He grabbed another box from the bag for himself and took out a large cinnamon bun. "I was told they make the best cinnamon buns anywhere." He proclaimed loudly before taking a bite out of the pastry. "I was told the truth!" He gasped. "Go ahead and try it!"

I hesitantly took out the bun in my own box before nibbling on it. "It's ok…" I said before putting it back in the box. "How much did this all cost? I'll pay you back…" I was a little annoyed that I was spending money on something I didn't want in the first place but I didn't want to owe him.

"It's fine; this is a treat on me." He said with a big smile.

"I insist. I don't like it when people buy me things." I protested.

"Why?"

"I just don't…"

"Too late now then." He smiled. Reluctantly I took the bun out and nibbled on it again. I didn't want him to waste his money but I had a feeling that trying to give the pastry back would end in another "argument".

He smiled at me then grabbed some sugar packets and his coffee, adding a large quantity of the condiment to the drink and repeated the process with the cream. He offered both to me and I reluctantly accepted the cream. He got up to return the leftover packets to their designated locations then sat down across from me again.

I sipped at my coffee silently. Alfred just smiled at me. "So what's your name?"

"Arthur… Arthur Kirkland…" He smiled at me again. "What?"

"Nothing, you're just really quiet. Can you say something else?"

"Why…?" I asked warily.

"You're voice sounds different and I'm trying to figure out why."

I slightly glared at him. "Well it's probably because I have a British accent."

His eyes widened in excitement. "Wow! Really? That's so cool! So that means you're from England?"

"No, it means that I was born on the moon. Yes, I'm from England!" I snapped, getting slightly annoyed.

He held up his hands and offered a playful surrender. "I'm sorry if I offended you. Truce?"

I glared at him then sighed. "I'll accept only if you let me pay for my drink and pastry."

He seemed to debate it for a moment. "Will you hate me if I don't?"

I stared at him for a moment, taken off guard by his question. "No, I would be very annoyed with you though." I finally admitted.

"I can live with that then." He gave me a wide smile and I glared back. "What grade are you in?" he asked before I could say anything.

"I'm a senior." He looked at me in surprise. "What?"

"I'm sorry, but I thought you were a freshman." His smile became apologetic. "I've never seen you around before and you look younger than most of the seniors I know. I'm a sophomore by the way."

"Ok then…" His outgoing personality was a bit annoying but contagious. I found that I was beginning to relax the more he talked.

"What's it like in England?"

"Normal I guess."

He gave a little pout. "Normal to you, maybe, but not me. What's a difference between England and America?"

I shrugged. "I don't go many places here and I didn't go many places in England to begin with either so your guess is as good as mine. Although British history has a lot more content than American history."

"Ok then…" He seemed a bit disappointed but perked up instantly with his next question. "What do you like most about America?"

I shrugged again and offered no answer.

"You really don't get out at all, huh?"

"Nope."

"Well I'll change that." He smiled and continued talking. "We could go and hang out at the mall! They have an anime store and, even better, a huge candy store! You pay for candy by the pound and there are so many options! I'll buy a big bag of my favorite candy and let you try some if you like. Plus they have a tea store. Brits love tea, right?"

"Are you stereotyping me?" I asked and glared at him.

Again, he held his hands up in a playful truce. "Sorry, I'll behave, I promise."

I let out a sigh. "Why are you making plans anyway? You barely know me."

"I want to get to know you."

I was interrupted before I could ask why. "Ah, Arthur, mon cheri~!" said a French accent. I turned around to see my guardian, Francis Bonnefoy. He looked around the café. "This is a quaint little place!"

"Why are you here?" I questioned.

"You were late coming home and I got worried."

I looked at my watch and noticed it was about 30 minutes after I usually got home from the club meetings. Despite his relaxed tone of voice, I knew that he probably thought something had happened to me or I had done something "stupid"…. again. "Sorry…" I muttered. "How did you find me anyway?"

"I asked the kids hanging out near the school wearing cute headbands and carrying little stuffed dolls." I looked towards Alfred to see if he got offended, like any of the other members would have if their "plushies" were called "dolls". To my surprise, he didn't seem to either notice or care. Francis continued speaking. "They said they saw one of the club members dragging a boy dressed in dark clothes to this Café and I put two and two together. So who is your little friend here?"

"I'm Alfred, Artie and I…"

"Artie?!" I interrupted.

"…just met and are becoming good friends." He continued with that infuriating smile.

"Oh, is this true?"

"We have just met." I replied sharply before noticing the slightly hurt expression on the American's face. "But we might hang out every once and a while…." I found myself muttering before I could stop it from slipping out.

I wasn't sure why I had added that last part. Maybe I just didn't want to be rude and leave a bad impression. Yeah, that must be why. I only said "might" so no one could begrudge me if it didn't happen.

Alfred's face lit up instantly. "Glad you're giving me a chance, Artie."

I muttered something incoherent.

"Oui, _Artie_, it's good that you're finally, as they say, _mingling._" Francis put in with a wiggle of his perverted brow.

I ignored the perverted comment. "Yeah, yeah, let's go." I growled to Francis.

"Ah, but mon cheri~!"

"Ah, but Artie….!"

The accents and words mingled as they spoke in disappointment at the same time. I glared at both of them. "I don't know about you, but I have too much homework to waste another minute here. Let's go _now_!"

Francis reluctantly let me out of my booth as I made my way to the car.

I made it out of the Café before I heard Alfred yell out. "Wait! Artie, don't leave yet!"

Alfred ran over to me as Francis quickly moved out of his way.

"What do you want now?"

"I want a hug!"

I raised my brow at him. "Why?"

"'Cause we're friends? Pleeeeeaaaase~!"

"And when did I agree to be friends?" I further questioned.

He just looked at me with the classic puppy eyes, silently begging me to allow him to hug me. I couldn't say "No" to the puppy eyes, although I didn't know why at the time.

"Fine…. I'll give you a bloody hug…. But don't get used to it!" I warned before I found my face buried into his chest and strong arms gripped me firmly.

He wouldn't let me go for over a minute despite my attempts to pull away. "I neeff tu go." I barely managed to mutter.

He finally let go. "Alright, later!" He said with a big smile and then ran off to his car.

"Ah, youth. He's rather cute, isn't he?" Francis commented.

"Don't go there; I'm not interested in romance anymore." I refused to look at him so he wouldn't see my eyes begin to water.

He seemed to know anyway and put an arm around my shoulders as if he wanted to comfort me. I brushed it off and walked back to the school to pick up my car.

That night, before I took my bath, I removed various things from my trouser pockets which included a silver locket with roses carved on the front and scraps of paper with poetry on them.

Yes, I do write notes or poetry and just shove it in my pocket. At least I take the time to take it out before I destroy them in the wash.

As I did my routine, I found a colorful piece of paper I didn't remember having. My poetry was always on lined notebook paper, not neon post-its.

I unfolded the green abomination and looked at it.

_Hey Artie, it seems like you don't have many friends here. If you ever want to talk my number is (xxx) xxx-xxxx and you can text me any time. We still need to go to the mall and get some candy!_

_- Al_

I stared at disbelief. _That's why the git wanted a hug? To stick notes in my pocket?! _I grabbed the paper, about to tear it to shreds but stopped.

I don't know what possessed me to do it, but I slowly took out my cell phone and saved his number before putting the paper on my night stand.

_What the hell am I getting myself into now?_ I silently thought before walking to the bathroom to take my bath.

_**o.V.o**_


	3. Chapter 2 Haiku and Blood

**A/N: **I do not own "Reverse This Curse" by Escape the Fate.

_**o.V.o**_

Let me tell you a little about the layout of my new school. Here, we have maybe 3,000 students so it's easy to be alone, believe it or not.

People ignore those that bore them because you canchoose to be around more interesting people. "Boring" people get to sit at a table by themselves in the lunchroom if they aren't busy kissing ass or working on extra credit.

I choose the table to myself in the lunchroom during the morning because it's next to my first class of the day. I quietly sit there and work on homework or write something and no one disturbs me.

_Usually_ no one disturbed me.

However, the day after I found that neon _thing _in my trousers, as I was sitting and enjoying my solitude, _something _ran into my back and held on tightly. "Hey Artie!" The annoying American practically _yelled _into my ear as if I was deaf….. Or making me deaf was his goal….. "I need your number!" He proclaimed before I could say anything.

"Why should I give it to you?"

"If you don't, I'll buy you things!" He threatened with a playful smile.

I glared at him. "I won't let you."

He gave me a mischievous smile then looked around. His eyes focused on a nearby box and his smile widened. "Hey, dude, are you in the band?" He yelled to a nearby boy.

"Yeah, want some chocolate?" The boy grabbed at the box Alfred had been staring at.

"Yep, how much do you have?"

I glared at him again. "Don't you dare do it…"

"I just got a new box this morning." The boy walked over to us with his new box of chocolates.

"Oooh, I'm lucky then!" Alfred said, smiling at me mischievously.

"Fine! I'll give you my number!" I yelled.

The boy with the chocolate looked confused but opened the box to show all the types he had. Alfred ended up buying two chocolate caramel bars.

As the boy walked away, I glared at the chocolates. "If one of those is for me, you're not getting my number." I threatened.

"Nah, I just felt bad about making him think I was going to buy a lot. I didn't want to buy just one after all that hype. Here, put your number in." He handed me his phone and I reluctantly put my number in. As I returned his phone, I noticed he had typed out my name as "Artie".

"Stop calling me 'Artie'." I growled at him as he saved the number.

"Yeah, yeah. So what have you been up to?" He asked as he opened his chocolate bar and sat next to me.

"Writing." I answered.

"Oooh, what? "

"Poems mostly." I shrugged.

"Can I read it?"

I looked down to the newest poem that had sprung forth from my pen. It was a haiku, a rather dark one too.

_Stinging, biting blade_

_Tugging on skin as it glides_

_Sorrow and blood fall_

I stared at it. Well, it wasn't the worst one I've written_._

"Pleeeeeease Artie?" Alfred whined.

"It's just a haiku, nothing really." I didn't really want him to read it.

"That sounds cool." He started to reach for the paper.

I moved it aside. "Well… it's boring and not any good."

"So? I'm still curious."

"….Fine…" I relented as I handed him the paper, knowing he wouldn't leave me alone until I did. He read it in silence and his goofy grin slowly faded to be replaced by a more serious face.

"You said you write these all the time?" He didn't even look up from the paper.

"Not in those exact words but I guess so… Why?"

"Show me."

"Tell me why I should."

He looked into my eyes with that serious face. "This is depressing. Is all of your poetry _depressing_?" His eyes shone behind his glasses as if he was in pain.

"Why does it matter if it does or not?"

"I'm your friend."

"I thought that guys aren't supposed to care about the emotions of their other guy friends?" I countered, trying to change the subject.

"I'm not a complete jack ass like other guys. Just cause you're not a girl I want to sleep with doesn't mean I don't care about your feelings."

I stared at him in surprise at his bluntness. For one thing, I didn't expect _him_ of all people to say something like that, nor that bluntly. Also, I thought no other guy besides me had noticed that about my own gender. I was a taken a bit off guard. "Ok then… But why me? We barely know each other."

"I'm working on that. So I'll ask again so I can know more about you: is all of your poetry this depressing?"

I sighed a little. Things with this boy were never going to be easy, were they? "Yes… They are." I answered. I became a little ashamed of my answer as I saw his eyes look at me sadly.

He didn't say a word. He sat down beside me and quietly waited with me until the bell rang, still looking at me sadly. As I made my way to class, he followed me. "Can I help you?" I snapped. I was annoyed by this strange behavior and how he continued to look at me with pity.

"I don't know. See ya later, Artie." He said before wandering off to his own class.

School that day went by in a slow blur. I never got my poem back from him and I kept replaying that morning in my head. _What's up with him? Why am I ashamed of being me this time? I didn't ask for his pity…_

As soon as the last bell rang to signal release from school, I ran to my car. I drove home before _it _could hit again.

I ran to my room as soon as I got home and locked myself in my bedroom. I turned off the lights and tried to block all thoughts by cranking up my iPod dock with rock and screamo. I found the scream to be annoying but it was because of the annoyance that sometimes I could ignore _it_ for a few moments. I curled under my bed covers and waited for _it _to hit.

Before long, _it _did hit. Thoughts raced through my mind, my body grew too heavy to move.

_Why the fuck did I move? What did I hope to accomplish? I'll always be worthless! Nothing will ever change that! It's my fault, it's _all_ completely my fault!_

For hours, I couldn't move. Tears that always refused to fall stung my eyes. I clutched my knees and curled up into a fetal position.

Eventually, it faded. My mind grew numb; I didn't give a fuck about anything. Francis summoned me for dinner and tempted me with morsels of his finest food.

I refused to leave my room.

I took off my sweater and grabbed a nearby knife hidden under my bed and looked at the mess that was my left arm.

An inflamed broken heart. That's all that was on my arm. But it was still a mess. It looked ready to bleed. I never put any medicine on it and I cut it too often to allow it a chance to heal.

I put the knife down and lightly touched the heart with my finger and flinched in pain. It was burning to the touch.

I took a deep breath and listened to my music for a moment.

_A withered past and a blurry future,_

_My heart's on an auction,_

_It goes out to the highest bid_

I picked the knife back up.

_I live too fast and I know I will lose her_

_But there is an option; to die is to live in her head._

_So I'll hang on, Never let go,_

_I dug this pain into my chest_

_It's dead_

I let the tip of the blade pierce the skin and slowly slide down a line of the heart.

_One last chance to reverse this curse,_

_You stole my heart but I had it first._

_And now I see you've got something to prove,_

_And nothing to lose, so let me tell you the truth_

I gasped as the pain grew to an almost unbearable level and the blood slowly trickled down my arm.

_A deadly wish but it should've come sooner,_

_A corpse in a funeral that I would never attend_

I finished one line and I let the knife rest on my flesh as the blood stained it reddish-brown. I allowed myself to think about the sweetness of death.

_There is a light on in the back of this house,_

_But you're not around; to die is to live in her head_

_So I'll hang on, Never let go_

_I dug this pain into my chest_

_It's dead_

I lifted the blade and started on a new line.

_One last chance to reverse this curse,_

_You stole my heart but I had it first._

_And now I see you've got something to prove,_

_And nothing to lose so let me tell you the truth_

"I deserve this." I muttered as I tried my hardest to not dig the blade in too deeply. "I deserve this."

_So, this goes, out to, the ones that fall in love_

_And to, the girl, that filled my dark_

"I'll always be alone. I don't deserve anyone." I choked out as I lifted the blade to another line.

_Last night I had the weirdest dream,_

_That you and I drove off the darkest streets,_

_Passing through these city lights,_

_Closure for the kids that died_

My ears perked. "Those lucky kids…. They had the escape of death…." I murmured before sliding the blade down the new line.

_One last chance to reverse this curse,_

_You stole my heart but I had it first,_

_And now I see you've got something to prove,_

_And nothing to lose so let me tell you the truth_

"I have always deserved this." I whispered hoarsely as I finished cutting.

_So, this goes, out to, the ones that fall in love_

_And to, the girl, that filled, my, dark_

The song ended and I turned off the iPod. I grabbed a rag and wrapped it around my bloody heart cut and finally left my room.

I ran into the chest of a concerned Francis. I just walked past him and went to take a bath.

I put the rag into the dirty laundry then turned the sink's cold water on. Just as the stream of water began to gush out, my phone went off.

I jumped slightly then grabbed the annoyance and looked at the screen. It flashed its title of "New message".

_Who the bloody hell is texting me?_

I opened the message.

_Hey. Sup?_

_From: Alfred_

_**o.V.o**_


	4. Chapter 3 Texts

**A/N:** When I have Alfred and Arthur texting, Arthur's text will be shown as (_You bloody git!) _and Alfred's texts will be shown as _"What did I do wrong now?"_ These are only examples of the text styles. They will be saying more than that conversation although some will probably seem like this in some way.

_**o.V.o**_

I groaned loudly. I wasn't in the mood to talk to him right now. I ignored the phone and put my arm under the cold spray to deaden the pain slightly. My phone went off again.

I opened the message. "_Artie, you there?"_

I continued to ignore him as I turned the faucet off and turned on the shower. I was halfway done taking my clothes off when my phone went off again.

"_Poke? Please answer already!"_

I growled and did just that. _(Usually when someone doesn't answer it means they aren't available)_

"_Meh. So what's up?"_

I yelled every curse I knew at the phone. I half wished he could hear how _colorful _my language was at that moment. When I was convinced that he was untouched by the curses, I finally answered his question.

_(The bloody roof) _I answered just to annoy him, if that was possible.

"_I mean what are you doing, you troll :p"_

I stared guiltily at the bloody mess on my arm. I don't know why I felt guilty. It wasn't like he knew and I didn't owe anything to him anyway. Despite that, I made up the closest thing to truth to tell him.

_(I'm about to take a bath so I'm not answering for a few minutes)_

It wasn't any of his business what I was really doing beforehand. I turned the faucet off and my phone went off again.

"_Ok, but please hurry, I'm boooooored!"_

_(Alright, just be patient for five minutes!)_

"_Yay~!"_

I put my phone on the counter and put my hand into the shower to test the temperature. When I was satisfied it was warm enough, I stepped into the hot spray and hissed as it hit my cut up arm. I began scrubbing my hair when my phone went off again.

I ignored it and rinsed my hair clean before using the conditioner and scrubbing my skin clean of blood.

The damn phone went off _yet _again.

"GOD DAMN IT! JUST WAIT FIVE BLOODY MINUTES AND STOP TEXTING ME, YOU WANKER!" I yelled as I turned the spray off to look at the texts.

There was a knock on the bathroom door. "Arthur, are you ok in there?" I heard Francis yell.

"Yes, my phone is just being annoying. Nothing is wrong yet but don't blame me if a certain American gets murdered within the next few days!" I yelled back, mostly trying to threaten the cause of my annoyance.

I heard Francis chuckle. "Ah youth…" I heard him say to himself before responding. "Alright, just checking."

I glared at all of the messages on my phone.

"_It's been five minutes already, you back?"_

"_You done yet?"_

"_Artieeeeeeeee! Please hurry!"_

_(LET ME BATHE IN PEACE!)_

"_But…. But…."_

_(BUT WHAT?!)_

"_I'm booooooored!"_

I felt as if I was going to snap and follow through on my threat.

_(Well fine, I'm done. AND you better have a better reason than that or else I'm going to turn my phone off)_

"_I wannna talk to you?"_

_(That the best you can come up with?)_

"_I wanna know more about you, Artie! Please?"_

I stared at my phone suspiciously.

(…_.. Why?)_

"'_Cause….."_

_(That's not an answer)_

"_Because you need a friend and I want to be your friend"_

I just stared numbly at the screen. _Once he gets to know me, he'll give up as well._

_(Not a chance)_

I turned my phone off before I could see his response.

_**o.V.o**_

**E/N: **Hey, another day of two chapters at once. I did this since both chapters occur on the same day and are both pretty short. So happy day!


	5. Chapter 4 Annoyance

_**o.V.o**_

I lay in my bed and looked at the time. 2:45 a.m. _Great….._ _Another sleepless night…. Oh wait, didn't Francis buy some more sleep pills?_

I got out of bed and made my way to the bathroom to raid the pill shelf. _Where the hell did he put it….? Ah ha! _I grabbed the Melatonin and popped two into my mouth. I turned around and found Francis in the doorway. "Why are you still up?" I questioned.

"I heard you were up and made sure you weren't taking pills again. Just melatonin, right?"

"Yep, nothing else."

"Good boy. Don't think I wasn't told anything when I got you. Besides, I already put the 'deadly' pills in a hiding place you can never hope to find."

"Up your ass?"

He laughed at me. "Non, not mine." He replied, wiggling his eyebrow at me.

"Sod off, you stupid perv." I growled before shoving past him. He grabbed my wrist tightly.

"Arthur, I'm just worried about you. You lock yourself in your room all the time and I have barely seen you eat!"

"It's none of your concern. Now let go of me this instant." I jerked my hand away but he grabbed my left arm. I gasped in pain as he squeezed the cut.

Francis loosened his hold on my bad arm quickly. "What was that?"

"Nothing." I jerked my arm free and locked myself in my room.

"Arthur….. This isn't healthy…."

"I don't care! Just sod off and leave me alone already!"

There was no reply. _Yeah, I knew you'd give up as well._

…

I don't remember when I fell asleep; I just remembered my phone's alarm going off. I growled at it and got up to get ready for school. I turned my phone back on and glared at how many missed messages were on it.

All from that stupid American, of course.

I skimmed them all and got annoyed at the repetitive "Artie? You there?" that at least half the messages said.

I deleted them all and got dressed for the day, grabbing a jacket before I rushed out the door to my car.

A fancy note was on my windshield.

_We're far from done on the topic._

_~Francis_

I crumpled the lacy paper and tossed it aside. _Stupid Frog probably put it there before going to work._

"Don't worry; I'll be 18 all too soon and out of your hair." I whispered softly as I drove to school.

…..

I sat in my usual seat in the lunch room. I placed my books on the table and grabbed some homework I had forgotten to do the day before.

I got to write only my name and the date before I was being smothered. "Heya Artie!"

"IS THIS GOING TO BE AN EVERYDAY THING?" I yelled at him before squirming out of his death hold.

"Hmmmmm….. Maybe." He replied with a wide grin as he sat down next to me. "So how are you?"

"Annoyed. Now sod off."

"Why are you annoyed?"

"Because you won't leave me alone. Now go away."

"Awwww, come on Artie!"

"Stop calling me Artie!"

The bell rang and I abruptly stood up. I half walked, half jogged to my next class, managing to blend in with the crowd and racing through it without getting touched. I finally was able to lose him… for now….

….

When I finally got home, I reluctantly made my way up to the front door. I slowly opened it and hoped to the god I didn't believe in that Francis would be out with his "buddies" and getting drunk or laid somewhere.

He was on the other side of the door with his arms folded.

I don't know why I would think he wouldn't be. He _was _told to keep a constant eye on me…

"Arthur," He began.

"Just leave me alone." I tried to rush past him.

He grabbed my bad arm by the wrist and jerked the sleeve up. He stared at the cut with concern. "Mon cheri… This needs to stop….."

I tried to free my arm. He only held on tighter. "No, it doesn't." I growled through my teeth.

"Oui. It does because I'm concerned about it."

"Don't be. I'll move out when I'm 18 anyway and that's only a few months away."

"That's not the answer and I don't want you to just leave. Besides, you'll still be in school."

"I don't care! I'll leave you alone! I know I only bug you anyway!" I yelled.

He stared at me as if I had just slapped him. "Arthur…. You're not annoying me in anyway…. I'm glad you're here. I just want you to be happy."

"How the hell can I be happy when I'm _me_?" I hissed and finally managed to get free. I rushed to my room and barely heard what he said.

"It's not your fault she died."

I slammed the door shut and locked it. I slid down to the floor with my back against the nearest wall as all strength left my legs. "How dare he mention _her_?" I muttered.

I pulled a silver locket out of my pocket and opened it, staring at the picture inside of a little boy and girl. For the first time in months, I began to weep silently as I clutched the locket close to my heart.

_**o.V.o**_


	6. Chapter 5 Her

**A/N: **Ok, so I guess I technically didn't keep exactly to my rule of each chapter will be posted the day they occur. This one takes place mostly at night during a dream so count it as occurring the morning he awoke. Plus the next chapter won't happen until Monday so…. I'm spacing this one out just a tiny bit.

_**o.V.o**_

I leaned my head back to rest against the wall. I couldn't make a sound as the tears slowly slid down my face. _Why did he have to bring _her _up? Of course it was my fault…._

I sat there for maybe fifteen minutes, just silently crying. At least the Frog-faced bastard knew better than to talk to me after saying _that_. When I finally got up, I stumbled to my bed.

_Today has gone on too fucking long…. Maybe if I fall asleep, I'll die and won't wake up…._

For once my body agreed with my mind and I actually fell asleep.

….

_I was lying on a field in the middle of the country, back home, in England. For once, the sun was out and I was enjoying every minute of it. I sighed in contentment and closed my eyes to soak in the warmth as the sun began to set._

_A sweet laugh drifted to my ears as a slight weight pinned me down. "Heya Kirkland, having fun down there?" said a sing song voice with a slight Welsh accent._

_A smile grew on my face and I didn't bother to open my eyes. "Hmmm….. Not yet, maybe a kiss would make my day."_

"_Ha! Nice try."_

_I opened my eyes to look up to the girl above me._

_Her short, black hair hung down slightly and framed her face as the sun caught the tints of her red highlights. Her ice blue eyes looked into mine with amusement. I let my eyes linger on those bright red lips and her lip ring._

"_Looking at my lips isn't going to change a thing." She commented with a laugh._

_She always loved to laugh and it was contagious. I found myself chuckling along. "Aw, come on. Just a tiny one." I teased._

_She laughed again and got off of me to lie in the grass beside me. She grabbed my hand with her small, delicate one. "Not a chance. But cuddling is allowed." She compromised as she snuggled her face into my neck._

_I rested my cheek on her hair and silently inhaled the minty fragrance that always followed her. "So, how are you today?" I asked._

"_I'm bored! I looked everywhere for you today but I couldn't find you. Then I finally noticed that the sun was out so I thought you might be here and, behold, here you are. So how are you?"_

"_Content with life. Too bad the day is about to end."_

"_How about we not end it yet? I'm pretty sure stars come out when the sun sets and, if you look around, you can even see the faeries dance around. Besides, mum knows where we are and she probably will guess we're watching the stars and tell your mum if she calls."_

"_I don't know…" I began. Of course I wanted to watch stars with her, I would always say yes to her. I just wanted to see what she would say._

"_Pleeeeeeease? I'll make it up to you by not playing that 'awful Japanese crap' for a day!"_

_Well that was definitely a good thing. "Alright. But that means an entire day, not just until the sun goes down."_

"_Yay! Thanks a ton!"_

_She moved her face to look up at the stars but made sure to keep it leaning against my shoulder. The air around us grew colder as the sun finally faded but the warmth of her body kept me warm. Her eyes sparkled as the stars began to appear one at a time._

"_Look there! There's Orion's belt!" She exclaimed excitedly, sitting up and pointing to a random patch of the night sky._

"_And there's the moon." I joked, pointing to the large, white orb that rose over the horizon. I also sat up._

"_You suck at astronomy, Cariad." She pointed out._

"_And yet you still convince me to stay out and watch the stars with you anytime they show."_

"_That's 'cause I'm magical!" She replied with a wink and wiggled the fingers on her free hand at the sky. Suddenly, glow flies filled the air._

"_Holy shit! I think you are! I haven't seen glow flies in years!" I gasped just to amuse her._

_She giggled lightly. "Those are faeries, not glow flies. And of course I am! After all, I manage to get a grouch like you to smile all the time~!"_

_I rolled my eyes at that last comment. "Yeah, yeah. You also get that idiot, Collin, to act half-way human."_

_She suddenly grew tense and her laughter died. She began to chew her lip ring, a sign that she was nervous. "Y-yeah…."_

"_Okay, what's wrong?"_

_She forced out a laugh and replied in a voice too sweet to be real. "N-Nothing. So, have I told you about why Orion is up there?"_

_She was trying to change the subject, something she only did when she was hiding something._

"_Yes, you have. What's wrong?"_

_She ignored me. "Orion was the best friend of Artemis, the Greek Goddess of the hunt. Her twin, Apollo, was jealous of how another man had gotten close to his sister and sent a scorpion to kill Orion."_

"_What's wrong?"_

"_Just leave it alone Kirkland."_

…_._

Rays of sunlight fell on my eyes and woke me up the next morning. I cursed at the opened blinds and closed them to go back to sleep. _Good thing it's Saturday_…. I mused before I drifted back to sleep.

_**o.V.o**_


	7. Chapter 6 Friend?

**A/N: **I do not own Death Cab for Cutie's song "I'll Follow You Into the Dark".

_**o.V.o**_

Saturdays and Sundays are my days of rest. I sleep, make my mind numb, and listen to music. They were also my worst days. There was nothing to keep my mind occupied.

After I woke up again, I grabbed my iPod, scrolling through the lists until I found a certain one I always kept and never messed with.

"Wynn's Muse"

I inhaled sharply and let out a shaky breath. My fingers trembled as I clicked the first song, and her last favorite song. It was a surprise that the song was actually in English. A soft guitar intro began it.

_Love of mine,_

_Someday you will die_

_But I'll be close behind,_

_I'll follow you into the dark_

I found myself singing along softly, finding it ironic how closely her favorite song matched my current thoughts and desires.

_No blinding lights_

_Or tunnels to gates of white_

_Just our hands clasped so tight_

_Waiting for the hint of a spark_

I closed my eyes and clenched my hand shut. I swore I could feel her small hand in mine for a moment but it was a false hope.

_If heaven and hell decide_

_That they both are satisfied_

_Illuminate the "No's" on their vacancy signs_

_If there's no one beside you_

_When your soul embarks_

_Then I'll follow you into the dark_

I curled up under the covers on my bed and placed my hand over the spot of my chest that hurt the most.

_In Catholic school,_

_As vicious as Roman rule,_

_I got my knuckles bruised_

_By a lady in black_

I pulled the sleeve up on my arm and traced the angry red lines with my finger.

_I held my tongue,_

_As she told me "Son,_

_Fear is the heart of love"_

_So I never went back_

_If heaven and hell decide_

_That they both are satisfied,_

_Illuminate the "No's" on their vacancy signs_

_If there's no one beside you_

_When you soul embarks_

_Then I'll follow you into the dark_

I grabbed my knees and tried to silently sob into them but couldn't. Despite how much it hurt, I continued to sing along with the song.

_You and me,_

_Have seen everything to see_

_From Bangkok to Calgary_

_And the soles of your shoes_

_Are all worn down,_

_The time for sleep is now,_

_It's nothing to cry about,_

_Cause we'll hold each other soon_

_In the blackest of rooms…_

"I'm so sorry, Wynn…." I whispered before the chorus started again.

_If heaven and hell decide_

_That they both are satisfied,_

_Illuminate the "No's" on their vacancy signs_

_If there's no one beside you_

_When your soul embarks,_

_Then I'll follow you into the dark…_

_Then I'll follow you into the dark…_

The next song began but I didn't pay it any attention. I couldn't even remember what the translations were to the Japanese lyrics that were being sung and I didn't care. I just lay there, in silence and misery, until I grew tired and my room became darker. Francis called me out for dinner eventually but I ignored him yet again.

I whispered random things as my body began to feel tired. Most of it was stuff I couldn't remember as soon as it left my mouth but I remember the last thing I had whispered before I drifted to sleep.

"I loved you, Wynn…. I'm sorry…."

…..

Monday seemed to come all too soon. I walked towards the cafeteria and hoped that the American had found another "toy" to go play with and would leave me the hell alone.

I really wasn't in the mood for his crap after the shitty weekend I had.

But, alas, there he was. He was actually _waiting _for me at the entrance of the cafeteria, that damned nuisance…

"Hey Art-"

"Can it, I'm not in the mood to deal with you today." I interrupted.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing, just leave me alone before I do something I might regret eventually." I warned.

That threat did nothing. He followed me with a concerned look in his eyes. "Artie, what's wrong?"

"Go away!"

"Not until you tell me what's wrong."

"Go fuck yourself!"

He grabbed my left arm tightly, right where the cut was of course. I yelped in pain. "What the….?" He questioned, not once letting go or loosening his hold.

"LET GO!"

"Not until you tell me what's wrong."

"THAT BLOODY HURTS! LET GO!"

"Huh?"

"YOU STUPID AMERICAN! THAT FUCKING HURTS LIKE HELL!"

He finally got the message and let go of my arm. "Why would it….?" His face suddenly shone with understanding. Before I could stop him, he grabbed my wrist and pulled the sleeve of my jacket up.

He looked at my cut as if _he_ was the one in pain. "I should have known after reading that poem… But… Artie…. Why?" His voice sounded accusing but sad, as if he had been betrayed.

I was too annoyed to pay his tone any attention and ignored it. "It's none of your business! Now let go of me this instant!"

"It is my business!"

"How the hell is it your business?"

He looked around and I looked around in mild curiosity. Other students were whispering at the display of the angry Brit.

To be honest, I didn't care that people were gawking at me and my display. I was too mad to care. If they wanted a spectacle, I wasn't about to deny them. But Alfred had other plans. I guess he knew I would regret the embarrassing display later…

He pulled me down the hallway and into the nearest empty restroom for privacy. He firmly held me against the wall. "Because I care about you."

"How can you 'care' about me when you don't even KNOW me?" I hissed and tried to free myself.

He kept me firmly in place. "The only reason I don't know you is because you won't give me a chance. And you really need a friend if this is what you're doing!" He held up my arm and put the cut clearly in view of my eyes to show me what he meant.

"What I do in my spare time is none of _your _concern. You don't even know the reason behind it." I jerked my arm from his grip. He allowed my arm freedom but he kept me cornered.

"Whatever the reason, it's not worth this."

"Just let go of me already and just forget I existed. Forgetting people seems to be easy for everyone else!"

"I'm not everyone else. Please give me a chance."

"No!"

"Arthur, please just give me a chance to be your friend….." He gently said.

_Stop! Don't talk to me in that tone! Don't talk to me as if I'm special! I know I'm not… Not anymore…_

His eyes grew softer as he looked down on me. _How come I've never noticed how much taller he is than me…? It makes his pity sting so much more that he has to look _down _at me._

"Please Arthur?"

My heart skipped a beat as I thought about a possible future where I could actually have a friend. I felt hope, something I hadn't felt in months…

I stopped squirming. He leaned in slowly towards me and I tensed. "Please…?" He softly whispered before resting his forehead against mine.

I wasn't allowed to hope. He'd leave me eventually once he found out how messed up I was. I closed my eyes and tried to think without seeing the distraction of how close he was.

Logic and hope fought in my head. There was no way someone would want to deal with someone who was depressed all the time. It's a social disease that humanity frowned on. It would wear down anyone who tried to help the broken one.

Unless they loved that person more than anything in the world as I had once learned.

But that would never happen in this case. We barely knew anything about each other and we were both guys. I didn't want it to happen even if he had been a girl instead. I just wanted to be alone in my despair. I wasn't allowed to be happy after what I had done… My hope diminished to nothing as logic won.

I opened my eyes and mouth to object but was stunned as I actually looked into his eyes. They were blue behind the glasses he wore, almost as light as _her _eyes had been. How had I not noticed that before? Was that the reason I couldn't resist his eyes before?

"…. Alright….." I found myself saying.

He hugged me gently and protectively. "Thank you…." He whispered.

"Yeah, yeah…. If you make me regret it, I'll kick your ass." I threatened.

He chuckled and the bell rung. He gave me a quick peck on the forehead and winked. "I wouldn't expect otherwise." He joked. "Please just trust me…" He added with a serious and sad face before running off for class.

I blushed as my heart raced a million miles per hour. I leaned against the wall for support. I don't know why I relented. I finally convinced myself it was because his eyes reminded me of hers and it was nothing else. I began to walk to class.

Yeah, that was all it was… It was only because of his blue eyes…

_**o.V.o**_

**E/N:** The "her" of this story is Wynn, if you hadn't guessed by now. It's pronounced like "when" or "win" and I believe it's Welsh in origin. No, this is NOT my personification of the country Wales. I just wanted this character to be Welsh in origin. And I'm warning you now, the next chapter won't be until next Monday so please be patient.


	8. Chapter 7 The Locket

_**o.V.o**_

"_Hey, I'm booooored!"_

"_Artieeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!"_

"_Please entertain meeeeeee!"_

_(ALFRED! WHY ARE YOU TEXTING ME?)_

"_Cause I'm boooooored. So what are you doing?"_

_(My class work because I'M IN FIRST PERIOD YOU IDIOT!)_

"_How does that make me an idiot this time?"_

Yes, only a week after I let this idiot into my life, he constantly spammed my phone with messages like that. No matter what time of day it was. I learned soon that if I didn't put my phone on silent, that it would ring at least five times per minute…..

This git became bored _way _too often for his own good. I was _seriously _going to kill him one of these days.

(_Because…. You are also IN SCHOOL AT THIS MOMENT! Pay attention to your class!)_

"_Awww…. That's no fun =("_

_(You're going to FAIL if you don't!)_

"_No I'm not, this class is toooooo easy :p"_

_(Just pay attention and stop texting!)_

"_Make me :p"_

I seriously wanted to go to _his _class and follow through on his invitation.

_(I could just turn my phone off)_

"_D: You wouldn't!"_

I decided to mess with his head a little bit and didn't respond.

"_Artie?"_

"_You there?"_

"_Artieeeeeee! Please turn your phone back on!"_

"_Pleeeeeeeeaaaaaaasssssseeee? I'm boooooored!"_

"_Artie!"_

I was starting to get slightly annoyed…

_(STOP TEXTING DAMN IT!)_

Okay… Maybe a _little _more than slightly….

"_But I'm booooored."_

_(What will it take to get you to stop texting?)_

"_Ummm….I'm not doing anything this weekend. How about you hang out at my house this Saturday? :D"_

_(…..Do you promise to not text me during class for the rest of the week?)_

"_Yeah! Mom's already said yes!"_

…. I couldn't shake the feeling that I had been set up for this…

_(… Fine… My guardian would be fine with it anyway…)_

Francis would be thrilled that I would actually be out of my room for once…. And he wouldn't have to stay home to make sure I didn't do anything "stupid".

"_Yay! :D Thank you!"_

_(Yeah, yeah….)_

"_See ya at lunch =)"_

_(Whatever… Now stop texting)_

"_Yes sir!"_

Shortly after we started talking, we found out we both had the same lunch period and he asked – no – _insisted _that we sit together instead of me going to the library to skip lunch. So later, I found myself reluctantly making my way over to the table we ate at.

Correction. I sat at the table where Alfred ate.

Just because I had finally made an acquaintance doesn't mean I had suddenly stopped cutting or started to eat. Life isn't like a fairy tale; everything isn't suddenly perfect for the one in distress. "Happily Ever After" doesn't happen in life like the story books say.

…..Although…. I did let him call me "Artie" without complaining _too _much anymore. There was no point in trying to win a losing fight with that stubborn git.

"Hey Artie!"

"'Ello Alfred. What do you plan on annoying me with today?" I greeted as I sat down across the table from him. Strangely enough, although he seemed to have many friends in the club, none ever sat with him at lunch. When I asked about it once, he just shrugged it off, saying they all had a different lunch time than him.

He popped a fry into his mouth. "Well, for starters, you can call me 'Al' instead."

"Not a chance."

"Okay, then you can eat half of my burger as a compromise." He began to tear the greasy thing he called a sandwich in half.

"Never going to happen."

"Awh, come on. I never see you eat lunch!"

"That's because Americans have an awful sense of taste and your food is crap." I countered.

"Alright, so what _do_ you like to eat?"

I had to think about that one for a moment. _What have I enjoyed eating since _she _died?_

…

_It was two weeks after Wynn had died. No, that wasn't right… It was two weeks after she committed suicide. No one wanted to admit that she had killed herself though. "Dead" was positive compared to "suicide" as if it had been an accident no one could have prevented._

_I was forced to visit her mother. She wanted to give me a trinket to remember Wynn by. I don't know why they thought I could ever forget her. She was in my every waking thought when she was alive, that wouldn't change now that she was dead. Now she was also in my every dream and nightmare…_

_How could I forget her? How could anyone ever forget her? She was so perfect…_

_Mrs. Ellidyr offered me scones._

_I refused them._

"_Arthur… I know how close you were to her… But you can't starve yourself like this, it wasn't your fault."_

_I remember thinking "Yes it was… It was all my fault she did it!" But I calmly said "Yeah… I know… But I'm not starving myself. Mum gave me beef stew before I came here." I technically wasn't lying. Mum _had _given me stew. I just didn't eat it._

_Her face showed me she didn't believe me but she let it go. "Alright."_

"_Well, I better go. It was nice to see you again." I didn't want to be in that house anymore. Not when the best thing in my life was no longer there to greet me with a hug._

"_Arthur, wait!" She put something into my hand. "I know Wynn would have wanted you to have this."_

_I looked down. I saw a leather collar, like the many collars she wore. But this one was different. A silver heart shaped locket was attached to it. Roses were carved on the front. Roses had been her favorite flower._

_I gulped back the lump that formed in my throat and opened the locket. Inside was a picture of her and me as children, her laughing and poking my face as I pouted and glared to the side._

_I clenched the collar tightly in my hand and at my heart. I thought I didn't want any trinket but maybe trinkets were okay if they had memories attached…_

"_Thank you…. Thank you…."_

…_._

"Scones." I finally answered.

"Oh, I've seen those at some stores but never tried them. Are they any good?"

"Yeah, I guess. And they aren't hard to make, even I know how to make them."

"So you can bake? Can you make me some one day?"

"I don't know…"

"Pleeeeeeeaaaassse?" He began gave me a pleading look with his bright blue eyes.

I couldn't refuse those eyes, they were too similar to _hers_. "I don't know… I haven't made them in so long…."

"Oh…" Disappointment was clear in his voice as he silently nibbled on his "burger" thing.

"… But I guess I could try to make them…."

"Really?" He grew excited at the prospect.

"Yeah… Really…."

I made sure to text Francis later and asked him to pick up the ingredients for scones and freeze some butter.

_**o.V.o**_


	9. Chapter 8 Making Scones

_**o.V.o**_

When I walked into the door of my house, Francis stood there with a grimace. "Mon cheri, I'm glad you're doing something other than moping around but…. Do you really intend to cook?" He asked, reluctantly handing me the bag of ingredients.

I could understand his reluctance. When I first moved in with him, he was upset that I wasn't eating. As a compromise, he said he would buy me any ingredients I wanted so I could teach him what I liked to eat. I tried to teach him how to make beef stew just so he would shut up and leave me alone. To say that the cooking ended in complete failure would be an understatement but sufficient to let you get an idea of what happened.

I grabbed the bag of ingredients with a scowl. "Yes, I intend to cook! I'm going somewhere on Saturday and the git asked me to make him some scones for him to try!"

His face lit up at those words. "Ah, so you're actually going somewhere for once?" He asked innocently.

"Yes, I unfortunately am..." I mumbled as I made my way to the kitchen. I put the bag on the counter and pulled out a bowl to mix the ingredients together and a pan to bake them on. I could feel Francis standing in the room with me. "Hey, Frog, if you have nothing better to do…." I mumbled words that even I couldn't understand.

"Hmm? What was that?"

"Could you…. Help me…?" I asked sheepishly.

He chuckled. "Last time I tried, you got threatened to destroy me. You sure you want me to help?"

"Would I even think of asking if I didn't?" I snapped.

He sighed and walked towards me. "If I must, although, I can't believe I'm letting all my culinary talent go to waste on British food."

"Shut it!"

He chuckled. "So, if you're swallowing your pride to ask for my help, he must mean something, non?" He walked to the bag and started pulling out the flour, baking powder, butter, and cream that I had asked for and then some extra things.

"Why did you buy lemons and blueberries?" I asked.

"I figured you were making scones and hoped you would ask for my help to make them taste less bland."

"Shut up!"

He laughed at me then turned the stove on to pre-heat it. "So he means something to you if you didn't shove me out of the kitchen at that."

I could feel my face turn red. I was just embarrassed that I was actually asking for help and it seemed like he was teasing me about it with all of his questions. "Maybe…."

"Is it, maybe, that adorable American?" He went to the fridge and pulled out some eggs and the frozen butter then grabbed some sugar from the pantry.

"… This country is full of Americans…" I tried to pretend I had no idea who he was talking about as he poured the flour, baking powder, sugar and salt into the bowl and mixed them together.

"That Alfred boy. The cute one that hugs you and calls you 'Artie' all the time. The one you curse about every day." He grabbed a second bowl.

"Do I really? I hadn't noticed." I pretended to act indifferent.

He grabbed the second bowl and cracked some eggs in. "Oui, so is it him?" He paused what he was doing and looked at me expectantly as he awaited me to confirm his suspicions.

"…. Maybe…."

"Then I'll make certain that he will enjoy these." He said with a wink as he poured cream into the eggs and began to beat them together.

"Hey, I'm supposed to be cooking! You're only helping!" I protested and grabbed the bowl from him. I began to mix the mixture. He started cutting up the frozen butter into smaller chunks.

When he finished, he poured the chunks into the bowl. "Mix the wet ingredients for me, will you?" I asked as I began to mix the butter in with my hands.

"Sure." When he finished, he waited until I took my hands out of the bowl to add the mixture to the dry mix. I began to beat the mixture together until he stopped me. "You're about to over mix that." He said, taking the bowl away and stopping me from mixing it anymore.

"He can handle it not being perfect…." I mumbled.

"Maybe, but I can't. Just watch." He ordered. I reluctantly obeyed. "Cooking is like making love, you must treat each step kindly or it won't sing as well." He claimed with a smirk.

"Bloody pervert! There is no connection between the two at all!" He laughed and added the blueberries. He grabbed a lemon and gently grated the skin for the zest to put into the batter. I watched in envy. "Where did you learn how to cook?"

"France, of course. That's why my food actually has a decent taste. Get a cutting board and spread some flour on it." I grabbed the board and did as he said. He poured the mixture onto the board and molded it together into a single lump.

He rolled the dough out and took out a large knife. He cut several triangles from the dough. "Put some parchment paper on the pan."

After I put the paper on, he carefully laid the triangles on the pan, making sure they didn't touch, before beating the white of one more egg and lightly spreading it on the triangles. He added a slight bit of zest and sugar to the top and stuck the scones into the oven.

"And now we wait. So, tell me why the sudden trip somewhere? What did he do to get you to agree?"

"…. He wouldn't stop texting me during class until I agreed to hang out with him this Saturday… He had already asked his mum too…." I replied as I took a seat near the stove. He gave me a knowing smile and leaned against the stove. "What?"

"What do you mean 'what'?" He asked innocently.

"What sick things are you thinking of now…?" I asked warily.

"Not a thing, mon cheri. So what do you plan on doing over there?"

"Nothing perverted that I know is going through your mind, wanker. He just asked me to bring some scones and come there myself. I don't know what he has planned yet." We sat in silence for a moment. Something _very _rare for us. I was getting rather uncomfortable. "Aren't you going to make any perverted come back or something?"

"Non, I proud of you. You're finally opening up to someone." He gave me a hug that made me even more uncomfortable. "Just promise me you'll be okay now."

I tensed. I could never keep that promise, not even for _her._

….

_I was at home, reading a book when someone knocked on the door. "I got it!" I yelled and made my way to the door. Wynn was on the other side._

"_Heya, Kirkland. Can I have my book back yet?" Wynn asked weakly. I was surprised when I saw how dead her eyes looked and how pale she was._

"_Wynn? What's wrong?" I asked. I knew she could hear how worried I was._

"_Eh? Whatever are you talking about?"_

"_You look like a banshee's got its grip on you!"_

_She forced out a hallow laugh. "Just what every girl wants to hear." She joked._

"_Come in." I said as I grabbed her right arm._

_She flinched in pain. "Could you grab my other arm, if you must grab one? That kinda hurts…"_

_I let go immediately. "Why would it hurt?"_

"_No reason….." She averted her eyes and began to chew on her lip ring. "Can I have my book now?"_

"_Not until you answer my question. What's wrong? What did Collin do to you?"_

_Tears formed in her eyes but she blinked them back. "Oh, he didn't do anything. We broke up and I guess it's making me a little sad."_

_I grabbed her arm and pulled up the sleeve. Sure enough, there was heart shaped cut on her arm. "Wynn… You promised me you wouldn't do this anymore!" I heard myself yelling as I went numb._

"_Sorry Kirkland, I wasn't really paying attention and things got bad. I'm okay though." She forced a smile on her face._

"_This is not 'okay'!"_

"_Leave it alone…."_

"_But… he hurt you." My voice softened and she must have heard how hurt I felt._

_She shrugged. "So? That's life. You get hurt…"_

"You_ don't have to though... Is there anything I can do?" I looked sadly at the cut._

"_Not really…" _

_Those words stung as if she had slapped me. They made me feel worthless and helpless to the plight of the only person I had ever loved. "If there is anything I can do, just say it." I replied without a pause, so she wouldn't know how much those words had hurt me._

"_It was my own fault we broke up anyway. Can I just have my book back?"_

_I felt weary but forced myself to move. I went inside and silently gave her back her book and led her to the doorway. "Just call if you need anything at all, even it's something as simple as helping you find where the faeries hid your make-up." I tried to joke._

_"Thanks." She smiled slightly at my joke then turned to leave but stopped. "Hey Kirkland? Make me a promise?"_

"_What?"_

"_No matter what happens, promise me you'll always be okay?"_

"_Why do I have to promise that?"_

"_Well, things change a lot throughout life and can hurt even more. I want you to always be okay and never hurt the way I do…"_

_I stayed silent as she left. I was still standing at the door long after she left. "I can't promise that…." I finally whispered as tears started to slide down my cheeks. "Every day you love someone else, I break that promise…"_

…

"I can't promise that…." I choked out in reply after a few moments of silence. The memory stung but I refused to let him see how much I was hurting. Francis seemed to know anyway because he didn't push it and checked on the scones.

Suddenly my phone went off.

"_Hey Artie! 'Sup?"_

I watched Francis pull out the golden scones from the stove and glared as he gave me a knowing smile. _(Nothing…..)_

"_That's not an answer"_

_(How so?)_

"'_Cause"_

_('Cause' isn't an answer either then)_

"_Alright, then I won't accept that answer :p"_

_(….)_

"'…' _isn't an answer either :p"_

_(Shut up git…)_

"_So what are you doing?"_

_(None of your business!)_

"_Awww…. =("_

_(What time should I be at your house Saturday?)_

"_Um…. How about noon? :D"_

_(Okay, talk to you later)_

"_Wait!"_

_(What?)_

"_Don't go yet! I'm bored!"_

_(Alfred, you're ALWAYS bored….)_

"_So?"_

_(So maybe I'm busy right now!)_

"_Awww…. Text me when you're done?"_

_(Will you leave me alone to finish if I do?)_

"_Yeah….. maybe…."_

_(….. Fine…..)_

"_Yay! Ttyl!"_

_(…. Whatever….)_

I turned to Francis. He was still smiling at me. "What are you smiling about, you wanker?" I growled threateningly.

"Oh, nothing. Who was that?" He innocently asked, although I was sure he already knew.

"Who else would text me?"

"Ah, so it is cute little Alfred! I thought so!" He began to tease.

"Shut up…."

"Non."

"Fuck off!"

He let out a laugh. "Alright. Now, taste this." He handed me one of the scones. I sniffed at it, as if it were poisoned, before taking a small bite.

I was annoyed at the delighted sound I made as the scone seemed to melt in my mouth. I barely had to chew the blueberries and the rest just seemed to disappear as my traitorous hand reached for another. That same hand got a nice smack as well. "Save some for that cutie of yours." Francis joked.

"It's not my fault you put something addictive in these without me knowing…"

"You can have another if you clean up everything then, including washing the dishes."

I looked at the small mess and debated in my head if it was worth it. "Fine…." I relented and quickly washed and cleaned everything. "Scone. Now." I held out my hand for another and he chuckled at me.

"That was quick."

"Yeah yeah, there're scones on the line."

"Alright, but don't blame me if there aren't any more for Alfred." He gave me one more scone before putting them in the freezer to keep them fresh.

I shrugged and went to my room. The next day, when I returned from school, I smelled fresh scones. I walked into the kitchen and found a freshly baked batch on a plate. I grabbed one and studied it. I guess Francis was happy he had found something I would eat without fighting.

I decided to humor him this once and ate a couple.

_**o.V.o**_


	10. Chapter 9 Five Dollars

_**o.V.o**_

At the next anime club meeting, Alfred sat in a desk close to mine. I don't know why he did. He still talked to his other friends at the meeting but he refused all their invites to sit closer to them. He often chose to shout across the room rather than leave his seat near me.

He didn't even invite them over to be closer to him. His friends seemed just as confused as me.

During a pause between everyone talking to him across the room, I decided to ask him about it. "Why don't you go hang out with your friends?"

He looked at me as if he was surprised I had asked him that. "Because you're always over here alone."

"What if I prefer to be alone?"

"No one wants to be alone. That's just too lonely."

I shrugged. "Maybe being alone is just what's best for me."

"Everyone needs someone."

"Not everyone deserves someone…" I muttered before I could stop myself.

He thought for a moment. "That may be true for some people but you definitely deserve someone." He then smiled at me. "I'll be your someone." I stared at him in surprise. "What?" He asked when he saw my look of surprise.

"Why?"

"'Cause…."

"'Cause' isn't an answer."

"'Cause I want to see you happy."

I was taken off guard by that answer. I chose to remain silent rather than question him further. I didn't know what else he might say. I would probably just end up more confused in the end if I kept asking questions anyway.

I started writing in my notebook. It took me a while to notice Alfred was still quiet and not shouting across the room at his friends. I looked up and saw he had been watching me and I assumed he had been watching the entire time. I slightly glared at him. "Can I help you with something or do you just like staring at people?"

"I'm just thinking."

"Dare I ask what about?"

He shrugged. "Probably not."

I looked at him suspiciously but decided it wasn't worth asking what he had meant.

I began to write again, trying hard to ignore the feel of his gaze on me. Finally, one of his friends began to talk to him. I relaxed as his attention was taken off of me.

After the meeting, I began to pack my stuff up while Alfred talked with his friends. When I stood up to leave, however, Alfred's attention was immediately on me.

"Hey Artie, let's go to the Café again." He said with an excited smile.

I could feel the gazes of his friends on me, curious about what was so interesting about me. "I should go home. My guardian will come looking for me if I'm late again."

"Just text him, I'm sure he'll be fine with it."

"I've got homework."

"We can work on our homework together at the Café." His smile broadened at the idea.

"I don't know…" I was running out of excuses.

"Please Artie?" He began to give me the puppy eyes.

The instant I looked into his blue eyes, I couldn't refuse. "Fine… I'll ask if it's ok." I got out my phone and hoped that Francis would have something against this. I texted him and asked if I could go with Alfred to the Café again, saying that I wouldn't mind if he said no.

He texted back his approval.

I've never been lucky in my life, why did I think now would be different?

"He said it was ok…" I muttered.

Alfred perked up. "Yay! Come on, let's go!" He grabbed my hand and began to pull me away from the other club members and to the Café.

Once we got there, Alfred placed his bag at a table and started to walk over to the counter to order something. "You better not get me anything!" I called out after him.

He just smiled that infuriating smile at me and started to order. I glared at him but sat down at the table. I pulled out my history book and started on a worksheet when he returned. He had a bag and two cups in a cup carrier again.

I glared at him. "You better be very thirsty." I threatened.

He just smiled and placed a cup in front of me before pulling a small box out of the bag and placing that in front of me as well. "Here you go." He sat down across the table from me.

"How much did this cost?"

"Don't worry about it." He took out his cinnamon bun from his box and took a bite out of it.

"Fine." I dug into my pocket and took out a five dollar bill. "This should cover it." I thrusted the money at him.

"Don't worry, it's a treat on me." He refused to take the money from me.

"I've already told you, I don't like it when people buy me things." I put the money on the table and closed my history book. "Now wait here a moment." I stood up and walked over to the counter.

The cashier was a young girl. I guessed she was probably in high school like me and Alfred or just beginning college because I noticed an opened textbook on the counter next to her. She greeted me politely and asked if there was anything she could do to help me. "Yeah, do you work Wednesdays at this time usually?"

She looked at me in surprise. "Yes, this is my usual shift."

"You see that smiling idiot over there?" I pointed to Alfred who was smiling innocently at me.

"Yes?"

"Remember his face. If he comes here once every two weeks and I'm with him, ignore his second order of stuff. Only give him one coffee and one cinnamon bun. Nothing else. Got it?"

She began to get a little flustered. "I don't know if I can deny a customer…."

I pulled three one dollar bills out of my wallet and put it in the tip jar. "Just do your best to resist his stupid smile and I'm sure you'll do fine." I walked away and ignored her look of confusion. I felt a little sorry for the poor girl but I was tired of the idiot buying me stuff.

I sat down and glared at the idiot and his stupid smile. "What was that about?" He asked.

"I ordered her to not let you buy me things." I continued to glare at him.

He looked at the girl. "Poor thing, you probably scared her."

"Yeah, yeah. So stop buying me things so I don't have to bully her again." I looked down at the table, ready to glare if the five dollar bill was still there but was surprised when I didn't see it. I was mostly surprised that I had actually won some form of the argument against the stubborn git.

"What exactly did you tell her?" His question pulled me out of my surprise.

"That she is only allowed to give you one coffee and one cinnamon bun every other Wednesday if she sees me with you."

"Okay…"

I stared at him in surprise. "Wait, that was too easy…" I said suspiciously.

"What?"

"You're not being as stubborn as usual…"

He just smiled at me innocently and shrugged. I glared back. "Well, you already bought that coffee and bun so go ahead and try it." He urged.

I looked at the two purchases suspiciously. "Why…?"

"Well, I remember last time you only added cream so I tried to make it for you this time." He smiled apologetically. "If you don't like it, I can have it switched for a fresh one."

"Fine, I'll try it." I picked up the drink and took a cautious sip. I was surprised when I noticed he added the right amount of cream plus something else. It was good and I recognized the flavor but couldn't put a name to it. "What else did you add to this?"

"Do you like it?"

"Yes," I admitted. "What is in it?"

He gave me a proud smile, as if I had just told him he had won a huge reward. "They have some flavored powder you can add yourself. I like the chocolate one so I added some to yours too."

"Huh…" I'd never been a big fan of sweets but I guess the chocolate was an ok addition to coffee. I took another sip and Alfred kept smiling at me. I thought he was expecting me to thank him or something. "I guess you didn't mess up this time…" I muttered.

His smile widened so I guess he knew that was the closest to a thanks he was going to get. He took a drink of his coffee. I began to work on my history homework again. I managed to answer a couple of questions when I looked up.

Alfred was just staring at me. "You're doing it again." I informed him.

"Doing what?"

"Staring at me for no reason."

"Just thinking." He vaguely answered.

I glared at him. "Didn't you have homework too? How about you work on that instead of staring?"

"Ok." He smiled and pulled out his homework. "How good are you at math?"

I shrugged. "I'm decent I guess, why?"

"Can you help me with this problem?" He pointed to a problem in the book. I looked at it and understood it enough to explain it to him.

"Sure, what do you need help with?"

We sat in the Café for a little over an hour doing homework. Anytime I started doing mine, he would have another question about his math. I don't know why he had so many questions, the problems were simple enough and pretty much all the same equation.

When he finally finished his math homework, he smiled apologetically at me. "Thanks and sorry for bugging you while you were trying to do your homework."

I shrugged. "My homework is easy enough so I'll probably finish it quickly."

He smiled at me. He then looked at his phone and pouted. "Aww…"

"What?"

"I need to get back to the school... Mom is going to be there any minute now to pick me up." He started to pack his things up. I started to pack my stuff up as well and stood up.

I started to walk out the door and Alfred followed. We walked back to the school together, me to get to my car and he to meet with his mother. He followed me all the way to my car. "Well see ya." I said as I put my bag into the front seat.

"Wait a moment."

"What?" I turned around to face him.

He smiled at me and grabbed me for a hug. I sighed. "Are all Americans as obsessed with hugs as you?"

He chuckled. "Probably not." He admitted as he let me go. "See ya tomorrow Artie." He waved a farewell to me and began to walk to the front of the school where I assumed he had arranged to meet with his mother.

"Later."

I got into my car and drove home. Once I arrived, I smelled another batch of scones. This was the second day in a row that Francis had baked some for me. However, unlike the previous day, I walked past the kitchen and ignored them.

I dug into my book bag to get my homework out. When I was flipping through the pages of my history book to find the correct chapter, I noticed a five dollar bill hidden between the pages. I glared at it and finally figured out why the idiot had so many questions. I decided to ignore it and do my homework.

The next day I noticed there were no new scones waiting for me when I came home from school.

_**o.V.o**_

**E/N: **Hopefully two sorta long chapters two days in a row helps negate the no posts for a week almost ^^; Also, this time, I'm going to take some time to recognize those who have left reviews for me so far from newest to oldest, so big thanks to: Sora Resi, Suicidal Bee, Vampchick2010, WesternBird, SukiWilliams, iSPOT, U don't know me, carrot341, A USUK fan, EVERYONE'S HERO XD, , Catsdon'tcry (interesting name since I go by Cat XD), envysfangirl, zenorules101, can't be asked, theworldofidontcare, bia-douwata-13, FairyQueenRose, Renuki, and a special shout out to my friends who read this and gave me life feedback like my previous bf and my current one. For those of you who have been with the story since the first original post, yeah, I know I'm taking my sweet time with it but I think I got it now so hopefully ya'll will come back now, ya hear? =^_^= Until next time, let yaoi prevail your every thought~!


	11. Chapter 10 Welcome to My Home

**A/N: **Although this starts on a Saturday, I have quite a few chapters that cover this hang out so I'm just going to post it today on Thursday instead of on Saturday so you all get a chapter per day without having to wait too long. Once I reach the end of the weekend chapters, though, it might start taking me a while to post as much as before. These chapters have all been written for a few years now and have gone under extensive editing and re-editing so I will be making double sure that any other chapters will be up to par before posting them, unlike what I did before when I first started posting them.

_**o.V.o**_

On Saturday, Francis insisted on driving me to the idiot's house. He claimed it was to meet with his parents but I think part of it was also because he wanted to share concerns about me with them.

When we drove up to the house, Francis turned to me before we got out of the car. "Now 'Artie'," he teased. "Don't eat any scones. Unless it's _off_ the cutie himself."

I punched his arm in protest. "Shut your trap, pervert."

He chuckled then paused to look at the house we had stopped at. "Nice place."

"Meh, it's alright. I've seen better." I mumbled as I stared at nearby park on the opposite side of the road to the git's home.

"Well, let's go meet the natives, as they say." He got out of the car and I followed.

The instant I stepped out, I looked up to see a tall boy running at me. "Artie! I'm glad you didn't change your mind!" He greeted before suffocating me with a hug. "Welcome to my home!"

"Can't…. breath…"

"Oh, sorry!" Alfred let go and I noticed a man had followed him out. Alfred had also noticed Francis behind me. "Hey! Nice to see you again. Are you waiting to meet my parents?"

"Oui, but it can wait a few moments."

The man, whom I had assumed was his father, smiled. "Go ahead and run along with your friend, Al. I'll spare you the boring adult talk."

Alfred smiled. "Ok! I'll introduce you to Arthur later then." He grabbed my hand and started pulling me away. "Come on, Artie!"

I muttered a polite farewell to his father and Francis. I noticed Francis watched me until I was out of hearing range before turning to Alfred's father and introducing himself.

When Alfred got to the gate of his backyard, he stopped. He finally noticed the container in my hands. "What's that?"

"Did you already forget?"

"Forget what?"

"That you made me promise to make scones for you….."

He sat there in silent thought for a moment. "Oh yeah! Now I remember! So there are scones in there?"

"No, Alfred. There's a _dragon_ in here. Of course they're scones, you idiot!" I handed him one. He took it, studied it for a second, and then nibbled at it.

"Wow! These are good! I didn't know you could bake!"

"Well…. I had a lot of help from my guardian… He's a French cook after all…." I mumbled.

"Give my compliments to the chef then cause these rock!" He finished his scone quickly then reached into his pocket to pull out a cloth.

"What's that for?" I asked suspiciously.

"I'm taking you someplace secret. Put this on your eyes and I'll lead you there." He ordered, handing me the cloth.

I stared at it a moment then looked up at him in disbelief. "Are you five or something?"

He smiled at my insult. "Maybe I am. If I admit I am, will you do it?"

"No way! You might pull me into a tree or something!"

He gave a nervous chuckle. "Of course not, just trust me."

I didn't reply.

"Pleeeease?"

"…. Fine…" I grabbed the cloth from his hand and reluctantly blinded myself.

"Yay!" He said, grabbing the scones from my hands then grabbing my hand to lead me. "It'll be so cool!" He promised.

"Whatever…" He opened the gate and led me into the backyard. He could barely keep to a walk and I almost stumbled a few times. "Slow down, you idiot!"

"Sorry, I'm just excited." He suddenly stopped. "Okay, reach out in front of you and climb. I'll be under you so you won't fall."

I warily stuck out my hands and felt the rugs of a ladder. I slowly ascended the ladder until I hit something with my head. "Ouch!"

"Crap, I forgot to open it! Put up a hand and push, it'll open." I held on carefully to the ladder with one hand and pushed up the platform with the other. "Alright, now just climb up. Don't worry, there's floor everywhere once you reach the top so you can just pull yourself up. And I'm right here so even if you fall, I'll catch you." I followed his instructions and sat by the opening I passed through and reached to my face to rub my sore head and remove the blindfold. "Dude! Wait a moment!"

"Why should I wait when I've already got a headache?" I growled, annoyed at his little game.

"'Cause!"

"Again, 'cause' isn't an answer."

"'Cause it's a surprise! Okay, I'm up." He grabbed his hand and led me a couple of steps away from the hole. He stopped and I heard a door creak open and we entered what I thought to be a room. "Alright, now you can take the blind fold off."

I took the blinding abomination off and looked around the small wooden room. It had small trinkets and such, including a curtain and a pile of manga and comic books. It at least _seemed_ sturdy. "A tree house?" I asked with a cocked brow.

"Yep, best in the neighborhood. And it has a great view too!" He said proudly as he pushed aside the curtain. It overlooked the street into the park to show a pond and a small forest with overgrown paths that I assumed to be hiking trails. I lingered a moment or two to admire the beauty that even this country could contain within walking distance. "So what do you think?"

I turned to see Alfred, practically containing himself from bouncing in excitement as he awaited my reply. "It's cool I guess…" I admitted.

"Sweet! I didn't know if you would like it or not 'cause I don't know much about you yet." He said apologetically.

"I'm hard to get close to…" I murmured, not expecting him to hear.

"Well, I guess I'll have to work on that." He left the room for a moment then returned to hand me a rope. "When I tug on the rope twice, pull it up."

"Why?"

"I left the scones down there so I could make sure you wouldn't fall. I want to bring them up safely." He then smiled. "Plus it's more fun this way."

I rolled my eyes but agreed to pull the rope. He climbed down and eventually I felt him tug the other end. I pulled it up and grabbed the bucket attached to the other end. I watched him quickly climb back up. He took the scones out of the bucket then slowly lowered the bucket again.

He gave me a triumphant smile. "See? That was easy!"

"I think you just like making things difficult…"

"It makes everything more fun that way though. We had to work together to get the scones up here so they're a reward now." He grabbed his "reward" and handed me one as well. "Here you go."

I accepted my reward and silently nibbled on it. I then walked over to the "window" and looked out to the park. I began to wonder where all the winding trails led to and which ones went to the pond.

"So I take it you like the view?" Alfred commented.

"What makes you say that?"

"The fact that you won't stop staring out there with a wistful look in your eyes."

"I'm surprised you even know what 'wistful' means." I mocked as I turned to look at him. I was a bit surprised as I finally noticed he was right behind me but I got over it quickly. He never had a sense of personal space so I considered myself lucky he wasn't smothering me with a hug.

"Just because I seem like an idiot, or 'git' as you so affectionately call me, doesn't mean I'm totally incoherent."

"Who are you and what have you done to Alfred's vocabulary?" I instantly questioned.

He pouted at me. "Hey! I happen to have very good grades and I'm in AP classes! I just chose to say simpler words 'cause I'm lazy!"

"Sounds like you." I shrugged and looked back out the window. After a minute or two of staring, I heard a sigh.

"Wanna go for a walk on the trails? I'm bored and there are pretty cool places in the park. Maybe you'll enjoy being there more than looking at it."

I felt excited about that prospect but acted indifferent. "Sure I guess. But you get bored rather quickly."

He smiled at me and pulled out another scone. "How about we make a deal then?" He tore the scone in half. "If we go hiking, after you get tired of it, we play video games for a while." He offered me a half. "And maybe you can spend the night here and we can star gaze from the tree house."

I looked thoughtfully at the scone. "Video games first and we hike at night and it's a deal. And I can probably spend the night if your parents are okay with it."

His smile grew. "Heck yeah! Done deal!" He gave me the scone and said with a wink "But I'm gonna kick your ass at Black Ops and we are _so _watching horror movies tonight!"

I took the scone and nibbled on it slowly. "Alright, but don't come crying to me when you hear something creak in the night."

_**o.V.o**_


	12. Chapter 11 Slight Misfortune

_**o.V.o**_

"Heck yeah! Kill streak of ten!" Alfred yelled in triumph. We had been playing multiplayer online but we somehow got placed on different teams. Since I had never played this game before, I was an easy target that Alfred didn't hesitate to shoot. I was also the tenth kill he was celebrating over.

"Alright, I'm tired of this." I growled as I threw the controller in frustration.

Alfred chuckled at me. "Aw, Artie, don't be like that." He teased.

"I'll be however the bloody hell I want. I've played your stupid game so let's go hiking already."

He thought for a moment, since he clearly wanted to use whatever thing his kill streak gave him. "Okay. But only if I get to choose the scary movie."

I shrugged. "Whatever. It's your house anyway."

The sun began to sink below the horizon as we made our way out the door. "Wait a sec!" Alfred exclaimed.

"What is it _now_?"

He plopped down in the grass of his front yard and patted a space beside him. "Let's watch the sun set first!" I only looked at his patting hand with a raised eyebrow. "Besides, you said you wanted to hike at night anyway." He persuaded.

I looked at him in silence for a moment. He started using "puppy eyes" against me. "Please…?"

I sighed, annoyed that he had those blue eyes I couldn't refuse, and sat down beside him. "You pay a lot more attention to details than I give you credit for." I commented.

"Yep, of course I- Hey! That wasn't nice!" He pouted once he caught the insult.

"Still slow."

He playfully punched my arm. "And you're mean!"

"When did you expect otherwise?" I countered.

He thought for a moment. "Actually, I think you might really be a nice guy."

I raised a brow. "What makes you think that?"

He shrugged. "Just a feeling."

He went silent for a few moments and we watched as the golden sky turned to different shades and hues of pink, purple, and blue. Slowly, little white dots appeared in the darkening sky and twinkled brightly to be seen over the dying rays of the sun. I reached into my pocket and gently rubbed the locket there.

I felt a small lump form in my throat as I remembered the countless times _she _and I had watched the sun set together and how often we saw the stars and all the myths and legends _she _had told me about them.

The sky grew darker and Alfred pointed up. "See those stars?"

I swallowed back the lump. "Which one? There are many."

"The seven that form the Great Dipper. You can see them if you look below the Northern Star." I actually recognized the stars he was describing.

I could feel the lump in my throat grow more painful as I remembered the story _she _had told me.

…..

_We were just sitting in the grass on a hill, watching as the stars appeared. Wynn looked excitedly at a star map, pointing out the different constellations and telling me the legends behind them._

"_Hey, Kirkland, what does this one look like to you?" She pointed to one of the many on the map, barely containing her bouncing._

"_A bunch of lines, just like the rest of them." I teased._

_She pouted at me, her cute little pout that I loved to see. "I know you have more imagination than that, you git!"_

_I laughed as the insult rolled off her tongue with her Welsh accent. "Yeah, yeah. Sure I do. I have the most imagination in the world besides you." I said sarcastically. _

"_It's a bear!"_

"_No, it's a bunch of lines."_

"_Oh, hush up so I can tell you the legend behind her."_

_I raised an eyebrow at her. "A her? With so many lines?"_

"_Be quiet and I'll explain." She glared at me until she was satisfied I wouldn't interrupt. "Okay, so her name was Callisto. She was a Greek nymph in the service of Artemis."_

"_No wonder you know all about the bear." I joked as she started with her favorite Greek Goddess._

"_Zeus fell in love with Callisto but knew she had taken the vow of chastity." She continued with a glare at me. "He raped her and she became pregnant. She tried to hide it from Artemis but the goddess found out and banished her from the other hunters. Hera grew extremely jealous of her husband's love of Callisto and the child she was about to have. She turned Callisto into a bear as revenge, hoping that Artemis might kill her by accident. Hermes was able to save the child and took him to his own mother, Maia._

"_The child grew to be a great hunter and one day he went into the forest to hunt. Callisto saw the young man and knew it was her son. She tried to approach but had forgotten that she was a bear. The son tried to kill her with his spear but Zeus stopped him by placing her in the stars. Next to her, he put their son as the small bear. Hera then made a deal with her nurse to deny them water. That's why they never go below the horizon."_

_She finished with a yearning look up at where the star chart said the bear was located. "Imagine the glory of being immortal in the stars." She whispered wistfully to herself. I looked up and actually saw the lines that formed the "bear"._

"_Hey, is it the one that looks like a child's sketch of a dog with the weird tail?" I asked, expecting to be told I was wrong._

_She looked at me with a small bit of hope before digging in her little purse she carried everywhere. "Sketch it real quick! And no peeking at the star chart to cheat!" She exclaimed, thrusting a pencil and notecard at me. I gave her a questioning look. "What?"_

"_Do you _always _have a pencil and notecard in that small thing?"_

"_Just call me bloody Mary Poppins and draw the picture already!" She looked ready to explode with excitement._

"_Alright, alright! Just calm down for one moment!" I drew the lines I saw and her excitement grew as she studied it._

"_Yes! That's it! Brilliant Kirkland! Only took you a few years to see one." She teased before hugging me._

_I felt my cheeks warm up before I hugged back, enjoying this moment of being so close to her. "Yeah, yeah. Don't expect me to see anymore." I retorted as I reluctantly let her go._

"_Now where would be the fun in that if it were so easy?" She joked, her voice letting out a carefree laugh._

…_.._

"You mean the Great Bear?" I asked, hoping to be told I was wrong.

Alfred looked at me in confusion. "Huh?"

"It's supposedly a bear, at least, according to Greek mythology…" I muttered.

"Oh, I think there is a Native American tale about it too. Something about seven sisters being chased into the sky by a bear I think. At least, that's the only thing about a bear I can think of."

"Go get a piece of paper and a pencil and I'll draw it for you. Maybe that'll help you see it."

"Nah, I believe that's it. The Indians said something about a bear in the sky where the Great Dipper is. It was used by the first British that came over to America and later by run-away slaves to go North." He informed me, probably to prove he wasn't as stupid as I gave him credit to be.

"So the British, who were smart enough to navigate across the ocean with only stars and very basic tools, became stupid Americans? I find that hard to believe." I retorted, trying my hardest to get away from any thoughts of _her _at the moment.

"Oh, ha ha. Very funny!"

"Yes, I thought it was. Because of how _true_ it is." I smirked over at him.

He stood up and for a second, I thought he was going to try to smother me with his American fat. Although, for an American I guess, he wasn't really that fat…. He wiped non-existent grass off his pants and held out a hand to me. "Well, it's dark. Let's go hiking already so we can watch the horror movie."

I looked at the hand for a moment, wondering if I should take it or if I should ignore it. "Alright, let's go." I grabbed his hand as he hoisted me up to stand up beside him. When I tried to free my hand, he began to run across the street, his hand keeping mine prisoner. "Alfred! Slow down for a moment!"

"But if we hurry, we might be able to see some fireflies! I know a really good spot for them too!" He exclaimed, running even faster down one of the many paths leading through the forest.

I sighed and tried my best to not trip over hidden roots. "Fine. I see no sense in arguing with you anyway, stubborn git."

I heard him chuckle as we made a turn onto another path. I kept silent, looking around me as best as I could and ignoring how short my breath was becoming. I seriously needed to exercise more often…. And the idiot wasn't a bit tired, which annoyed me all the more. Wasn't it _supposed _to be Americans who were the lazy, slow ones?

I glared up at him, taking my eyes off the ground for one moment. Almost immediately, my foot got tangled up in a root. Alfred kept dragging me before I could I could untangle my foot from the root and I tripped.

When my hand managed to jerk out of his, he finally stopped and turned to look at me. I tried to pick myself up from the ground, since it was such an undignified place to be, but a small yelp of pain escaped my lips.

I heard a small gasp and looked up to see Alfred looking down where my foot was caught with wide eyes. I followed the gaze and saw my foot stretched out almost more than it was meant to stretch naturally. "Bugger…." I muttered.

"ARTIE! OH MY GOD, I'M SO SORRY!" He started to yell, coming near me.

"Alfred, just wait a moment." I calmly ordered. "I need to get it untangled before I mess it up anymore." He stopped in his tracks, seeing the logic in my statement, and fidgeted in place while I inspected my foot.

I gingerly poked it with my finger. A dull pain responded. I bit my lip before I grabbed it and carefully freed it. I let my hands glide carefully over it, inspecting for any significant breaks or issues. It was painful but after a while, I concluded it wasn't painful enough to be broken.

"Can… You stand?" Alfred hesitantly asked.

"Yeah, I think so."

"Do you need any help?" He started to walk towards me.

"No, I can manage on my own. Just wait a moment. Impatient much?" I growled as I grabbed a nearby tree to steady myself on as I began to stand.

"I want to make sure you don't hurt any more than you have to…" He murmured.

I ignored the comment. I didn't want him to say anything else nice to me… I stood up, not placing the hurt foot on the ground until I was propped on the tree. I placed it gingerly on the ground. The pain wasn't too bad so I added weight.

Everything happened quickly. I winced and let a whimper of pain escape my lips. I felt myself falling against the tree. I felt arms wrap around me and the air ran through my hair as I was picked up. Before I knew it, I was in his arms like one would carry a bride.

I blushed at the comparison my mind had made and protested. "I'm alright! I just didn't expect that yet!" Alfred ignored me and started a slow jog back the way we had come. "Put me down! I can walk in a second!"

"I'm so sorry, Arthur. I didn't mean to be so excited. I shouldn't have dragged you along like that!" He started to apologize.

"Just put me down!"

"Like I said, I don't want you to hurt any more than you have to. It's my fault you fell, might as well help you out by carrying you back to the house. Do you need to go to the hospital? How badly does it hurt? I'm so sorry!" He didn't pause for breath.

"Alfred, shut up for a second!" When he went silent and stood still, I continued. "It's not that bad. It just took me off guard. I'll be okay, no hospital needed. I know what a broken bone feels like and, trust me, it isn't near that bad. I will be okay." _Physically _I added mentally before I could stop myself.

"Ok…. But you're taking it easy for the rest of the night! Got it? I'll even choose a less than scary movie for you so you won't be running in terror later." At first, I almost retorted in anger. Then I noticed he was absolutely serious about the last part.

"You…. Are an idiot…."

_**o.V.o**_


	13. Chapter 12 Fright Night

**A/N: **I do NOT own rights to Insidious or Blu-ray anything either, on to the story.

_**o.V.o**_

"It's lucky that you're so small, or you might have been worse off." Dr. Jones informed me, handing me a glass of water and a small pill. "It's a pain killer, Advil." He explained.

I took it silently and took a moment to study Alfred's father. He was slightly taller than Alfred himself, and honestly, looked like an older version of Alfred besides having green eyes instead of the blue that his son had. He was also dressed in a formal suit. "Dad, you _sure _he's okay? It seemed worse than only a sprain when he got it."

"Well, I am a doctor after all." Alfred went silent as he met his father's slight glare. The eyes softened. "Sorry, Al. I'm just a little tired and I don't really want to go to the office dance tonight." He patted Alfred's head and Alfred immediately perked up.

"Then don't go. Oh, and can Arti- I mean, Arthur, spend the night. I'm sure he doesn't need to walk around on that foot of his." He tried to persuade.

"Alfred, I'm totally fine! It's only a sprain!" I snapped back.

"Yeah, but a sprain still hurts! I don't want you to hurt!"

"I will be alright so just calm down! I'll be walking and attempting to keep you out of trouble all too soon!"

Dr. Jones chuckled at our mini-argument. "Good thing too, Al. You _can _be a handful for even two adults. And I wish I could stay but your mother wants to go and I can't deny her."

As he spoke of her, Mrs. Jones entered the room. Her long brunette hair was wavy and cascaded down her back, free from any restraints and her bright blue eyes studied the room with a childish interest. _That's where Alfred gets it _I thought silently.

She wore a dark red dress that, unlike most women in America, actually _clothed _her and still made her look rather attractive. She wrapped her arms around her husband's torso and gave him an affectionate kiss on the cheek. "Nope, but I love you all the same, Honey."

"Eww! PDA! PDA!" Alfred teased, covering his eyes in false disgust.

"When you have kids, I'm going to teach them to do that when they see their mother kiss _your_ cheek." Mrs. Jones teased back. She then looked at me. "So it's nice to finally meet you, Artie." She greeted with a knowing wink.

I gave Alfred a quick glare and he smiled apologetically at me. "Nice to meet you too, Mrs. Jones."

She giggled softly. "Al has told me a lot about you. And I think it's perfectly fine if you spend the night with him, if your guardian is okay with it of course."

"Well, we'll be late if we don't leave yet. Now, remember, no parties etc. etc." Dr. Jones told Alfred as he started to head towards the door.

"Okay, so if the house is in chaos, it wasn't me. It was some invisible creature." Alfred joked. "Love ya! See ya later!"

"Love you too." Both parents chuckled before going out into the night.

At that moment, I heard a soft beeping noise. Alfred dug his hand into his pocket and pulled out his phone. "Sorry about that, I'll turn it off now." He said with an apologetic smile.

"You don't have to if you don't want to…" I muttered. "I know you have friends other than me."

"Yeah but you're here now. That's more important than texting." He smiled.

"What do you mean?" When he said vague stuff like that, I always got confused.

"Nothing." He answered, still smiling. I don't know why I even bothered to ask. His answers were even vaguer.

I rolled my eyes. "Well I'm going to text my guardian and tell him I'm spending the night."

"Alright."

I then texted Francis, telling him I was actually going to be out of my room for a full 24 hours. His reply?

"Have fun~! And don't make me a Granpapa _too_ soon~!"

I ignored him completely. "There, done. Now what movie do you have picked out?"

"Insidious II! It seemed super cool when I bought it yesterday and the commercials a few months ago seemed promising!" He said with an excited smile as he pulled the DVD out of nowhere to insert it into the DVD player.

The cover showed a woman and two young boys cowering in fear in the corner. In the center of the cover was what appeared to be a baby in a walker with its back turned to the woman and the boys. The cover also had text that stated "It will take what you love most". And of course, he had gotten the Blu-Ray version and he informed me he had surround sound to make it all the more life-like.

He ran throughout the house, turning off all the lights to "make it more realistic". I noticed that whenever a light went off, his feet moved faster away from the source of darkness to the next source of light. I assumed it was because he was that excited to watch his newest movie.

When he finally finished with all the lights, he jumped over the back of the couch and grabbed a pillow, holding it to himself as if it was a shield. His shaking hand reached over to pick up the remote from the table in front of us and as he clutched it, his hand turned completely white.

"Alfred… I don't think you have to hold the remote in a death grip…. It's not going anywhere…."

"Shh, Artie! The movie's starting!" He said as he hit the play button. The movie started and as it progressed to the actual first scare, I could feel trembling on the couch next to me. I was prepared for when the first demon appeared because I had watched the first movie and could tell when it liked to scare the audience. What _did _surprise me, however, was the loud shout in my ear.

"DUDE!? WHERE DID HE COME FROM?!" Alfred jumped, causing me to almost jump off the couch myself which was avoided when he grabbed on to me and hid his face in my shoulder. "NO MORE, NO MORE!" He was screaming, although he still peeked from his hiding spot to the TV.

I tried to pry myself free but failed. "Alfred, I can't turn it off if you won't let me go!" I hissed into his ear.

"Dude, don't turn it off!" He began to pout at me, ignoring the movie for a moment.

"Then let go of me!"

He reluctantly let go and hid behind his pillow. This continued the rest of the movie where he would beg someone, after a while I learned he wasn't begging me, to turn it off but when I tried he would beg me to let it continue.

The movie ended after what seemed to be an eternity. Alfred quickly got up and ran throughout the house, turning on every light. When he returned, he said with a nervous laugh "Pretty cool movie… Good thing I could never astral project… right? Right Artie?"

I rolled my eyes at him. "Yeah, you're too dense to accomplish it." I mocked.

He pouted at me. "Hey! That was mean!"

"What was that? I couldn't hear you because you made me deaf with all your screaming." I cuffed my hand to my ear to add dramatic effect and he continued to pout at me.

"Fine then! Try to sleep knowing that I could astral project and have my body taken over by some demon!" I rolled my eyes again and laid down on the couch, pulling a blanket over me.

"Alright, just remember to turn the light off on your way out." I said with a yawn, waving my hand at him in dismissal. He paused for a moment. "What do you want now?" I said, knowing he wanted to say something.

"Nothing… It's just… We do have a guest room if you want to sleep there instead…" I reluctantly got up and followed him to the room. "Okay, try not to have nightmares; I'm in the room across the hall in case you are attacked, good night!" He said quickly as he turned off the light and ran to the safety of his brightly lit room.

_**o.V.o**_

**E/N: **Yes, I did shamelessly make Alfred's father a doctor on purpose. You're point? Also, on another note, I do not own any of Aqua's songs.


	14. Chapter 13 First Meeting

**A/N: **I don't own the Chronicles of Prydain, I just borrowed a name for Wynn's last name.

_**o.V.o**_

"_Arthur, this is the Ellidyr family. I expect you to treat them with respect since they just recently moved here from Wales." I pouted at my mum as she introduced me to the new family next door. Why did she treat me like such a child?_

_Mrs. Ellidyr turned to me and bent to my height to ask my age with a strange accent. "Six…" I muttered._

_She smiled sweetly at me. "You're practically a big man already!" she said in the same demeaning tone adults take with me. I bit back my retort and silently nodded. "I have a daughter about your age in the backyard. How about you go meet her?"_

"_Yes, that would be a good idea." My mother agreed as she nudged me to the back door. "Be nice to the young lady, okay?"_

"_Yes ma'am." I replied, sulking as I reluctantly made my way to the back of the house. I saw a few trees but couldn't find the girl that they mentioned. "Hello?" I finally called out._

"_I'm here." A voice with the same weird accent as Mrs. Ellidyr said quickly before I could find its source._

"_Where?" I said, looking everywhere around me._

"_Find me." The voice said from somewhere behind me. I turned and saw no one again._

_I pouted. "I can't."_

_A small giggle came from above me. "Look up, silly."_

_I obeyed and saw a small girl with short, tangled brunette hair and light blue eyes looking down at me in amusement. "How did you get up there?" I asked in amazement._

_She giggled again and swung to a lower branch with amazing agility. "I grew wings and flew up here."_

"_Liar!"_

"_Nu-uh!"_

"_Uh-huh!"_

"_Nu-uh!"_

"_Prove it then!"_

"_I can't."_

"_Then you didn't." I said smugly, thinking I had won._

"_Yes I did, it's just my faery friends aren't here to show you." She pouted before jumping off her branch and landing on her feet and hands._

"_Careful! You're going to hurt yourself!" I protested as she wiped her hands off on her torn shorts._

_She stuck her tongue out at me. "Nu-uh, I do it all the time."_

"_Then where did you get all those?" I pointed at the rainbow of band aids covering her legs and arms._

"_This one was when I fell off my tricycle, and this one was when I tried to pet a stray cat, and these are from when I went playing in the forest, and that one…" She pointed at each one proudly like they were badges of honor. _

_I stood there looking at this accident prone fool in disbelieve. "Why don't you just read a good picture book?"_

"_I do when it's too dark to play. I like playing outside more though."_

"_What about when it rains?"_

"_I jump in the puddles and dance in the rain!" She said excitedly._

"…_You're weird…." I finally concluded._

_She pouted at me. "Then what do you do for fun?" She countered._

"_I read books and play puzzle games with mummy. We're working on a unicorn right now before we came over."_

_She looked at me in confusion. "I thought boys didn't like unicorns?" She questioned._

_I returned her gaze of confusion. "Why wouldn't they? Unicorns are full of magic!"_

"_You're the weird one." She said with a soft giggle._

"_No I'm not!" I yelled._

"_Wynn! Are you already teasing the poor boy?" Mrs. Ellidyr chided as her and my mum came outside to check on us._

"_No… Not yet…" She said innocently as she ignored my glare._

"_She said boys shouldn't like unicorns!" I accused._

"_Nu-uh, I just said that they don't!"_

"_Same thing!" I argued back._

_Her mum and mine chuckled as they exchanged words I didn't quite hear. "Did you introduce yourself yet?" My mum asked me._

"…_No…" I quietly admitted._

"_Well…?" She urged._

_I pouted and silently grumbled "My name is Arthur Kirkland… Nice to meet you."_

_Wynn smiled brightly at me. "My name is Wynn, and we're going to be great friends, Kirkland." She prophesized. _

"_My name is Arthur, not Kirkland!" I protested._

"_Kirkland sounds better though so that's what I'll call you." She smiled._

_I glared at her and was about to retort when a weird sound came from our mums, something like the "ahhhh" mums say a lot. "I think this calls for a picture!" Mrs. Ellidyr exclaimed._

_My mum readily agreed with her and ordered me to stand next to Wynn, who smiled while she poked at my face. I glared to the side when her mum took the picture. "I think this is a beginning of a beautiful friendship!" My mum said._

…

I woke with a start as I heard a soft knock at my door. My eyes adjusted to the darkness as I remembered that I was in the quest bedroom of Alfred's house and not meeting _her_ for the first time. "What is it? Didn't I tell you to not come crying to me _before_ we watched the movie?" I muttered in a grumpy, tired voice.

The door slowly opened as Alfred looked at me from the crack and light flooded into the room from the hallway. "Just making sure you're okay…" He whispered back.

I glared at him. "Just admit it, you're scared."

He pouted at me. "No, I'm just worried that you are since your room is so dark!" he protested as he crept into my room.

I glared as he stood halfway in the room. "Well I'm not so go back to bed." He stood there and I almost threw a pillow at him until I noticed his eyes silently pleading. Those blue eyes pleaded with me with a look of slight terror. I sighed as I realized he was terrified after the stupid movie. "I guess you can hang out in here for a while." I relented.

He gave me a wide smile as he closed the door and jumped into my bed without turning on the light and hugged me. "I knew you were scared." He cried triumphantly.

I squirmed in his hold. "Let go of me!"

"Oh, sorry!" He apologized as he let go. After a few moments, we were both lying down in the bed on our respective sides. We lay in silence for a few moments. He then rolled over to face me. "So… Why did you move to America?" He finally asked.

I tensed as I searched for an answer. "It's… complicated…" I finally replied.

"Was it divorce?" He guessed, clearly not going to let go of the issue yet.

"No…"

"Poverty?"

"Do I look poor to you?" I snapped at him.

"Did your parents have to get new jobs?"

"No, although I never met my father so I wouldn't know what he was doing." I admitted.

I could sense him looking at me with pity. "I'm sorry…" He whispered.

"It's not your fault, you git."

He shrugged. "Doesn't mean I can't wish it didn't happen. Is that why you came to America?"

"No… It's very personal… Now I'm exhausted so shut up." I rolled over so my back was facing him.

It was silent for a few minutes. "Artie?" I ignored him. "Artie? You awake?" I continued to ignore him, breathing slowly and softly to make it seem like I was asleep. I heard him sigh softly.

Suddenly I felt his arm going under my neck and wrap around my shoulders. The other arm wrapped itself around my waist. I felt him pull me closer to him and firmly hold me in place.

I tensed but continued to fake sleep as his face nuzzled into the back of my neck. His hold eventually loosened as he drifted off to sleep but every time I tried to pry myself free, it would tighten immediately. I gave a sigh of defeat after the fourth attempt at freedom and tried my best to fall asleep, trying not to imagine the warmth was someone smaller and softer…

_**o.V.o**_


	15. Chapter 14 Land of Dreams

_**o.V.o**_

I guess I somehow managed to fall asleep because when I woke up, there wasn't a large tumor attached to me anymore. I got up and yawned. Sunlight had managed to shine through the window so I thought it was best if I went to find out where my tumor had disappeared to.

"Good morning Artie!" Alfred said cheerfully as I arrived into the dining room of his house. I glared at him sleepily, silently blaming him for the lack of sleep I received the night before.

"Yeah yeah…"

Alfred wasn't the bit deterred from his good mood. "Mom made us chocolate chip pancakes!" He announced excitedly as he bit into the syrup soaked pancake on his plate.

His mother chuckled behind him and smiled at me knowingly. "Alfred, did you watch a horror movie last night?" She playfully chided him as she placed a second pancake onto his plate.

"Maybe…"

She turned to me. "I'm sorry Arthur, I doubt you got any sleep last night." She said apologetically

I politely nodded at her. "Who needs sleep anyway…?" I muttered with a yawn as I sat at the table.

"Yeah, he was too scared to sleep so I stayed with him all night." Alfred proudly said between mouthfuls of pancake. I glared at his direction but said nothing, too exhausted to have a pointless argument.

A plate materialized in front of me with a couple of pancakes. I looked up to politely refuse but I was met with light blue eyes silently urging me to eat. When I looked across the table, Alfred's light blue eyes also silently urged me to eat.

I sighed in defeat. I couldn't resist one pair of blue eyes to begin with. Two was even worse. I slowly began to cut the food into small pieces before eating it. It was pretty good, not as good as Frog Face's food but it had a nice homely taste.

Alfred watched me happily as I finished the food and put the plate into the sink before more pancakes could materialize. "Hey Artie, your foot is better!" He pointed out.

I merely shrugged. It was true that I wasn't limping as badly but that was mostly because I was use to pain. I took out my cell phone and texted Francis. (_All right, pervert. I'm ready to come home)_

"_Are you sure? I think you need more time with the cutie~! Just don't do anything I would do, mon cheri ;)"_

_(Just get me, you bloody wanker!)_

"_Fine… No fun =3="_

I rolled my eyes then turned to Alfred and his mother. "Thank you for having me last night but I think it's time for me to go home now. I just texted my guardian so he'll probably be here within the next half hour or so." I politely said, more for Mrs. Jones's sake than Alfred's.

I was surprised when I received two sets of pouts. "Well, I suppose… You don't have to go but I understand that you're probably tired…" Mrs. Jones sensibly said, despite her obvious pout.

"But… But… Artie…" Alfred whined, apparently not wanting me to go home.

"No 'buts'. I'm going home to get some sleep because _someone_ apparently didn't know which bed was his and wouldn't stop squeezing the air out of me every time I tried to get out of his death hold!" I kept firm ground by refusing to look into his blue eyes.

"But…"

"No! I'm going home to sleep! Otherwise, I'll be even grumpier with you." I glared at him in warning but he was immune and he continued to pout.

Mrs. Jones, oddly enough, was smiling at our little argument but finally offered help. "Alfred, you'll see him tomorrow at school and he's welcome over anytime he wants to come so it's not like you won't see him again."

Alfred pouted in defeat. "Yeah, I guess so…"

I silently thanked his mother and sat in the living room with Alfred to watch some TV until the pervert arrived over an hour after I had texted him. I could understand why he was reluctant to get me. For one thing, I was somewhere safe and surrounded by people who I wouldn't do anything "stupid" in front of, purely to be polite.

Also, I think he thought that socializing was a good step in the right direction and he wanted me to socialize as long as I could. But I was getting at my limit of how much socialization I could handle.

As I left, I thanked Mrs. Jones for having me as her husband woke up. He mumbled a sleepy good bye and investigated the kitchen for the pancakes he probably smelled. Mrs. Jones smiled brightly at me. "You're welcome any time, although I'll try to hide the horror movies next time."

I nodded and walked outside. "WAIT! ARTIE!" I turned around as the very solid mass of Alfred collided into me, wrapping me in a death hold of a hug. "Promise to visit again soon?" He looked at me hopefully.

"Maybe…" I muttered, not quite feeling forgiving yet.

"That better be more than a maybe." He happily threatened and gave me a quick kiss on the forehead. Judging by how hot my face got, I was probably red.

By the time he let go, I was muttering about Americans being as bad as the French just to get into the car of a smirking Frenchman. "He's quite sweet and cute, _non_?" He wiggled his perverted brow at me.

"Shut up…"

He chuckled at me and started to drive away, smiling at the pouting boy that was watching us leave. Not that I looked back to see the pout… "Ah, the sweet innocence of youth. How wasted it is on an adult like me."

I scoffed at him. "You were born without innocence of any kind you pervert."

"Maybe that's why I like Antonio and Gilbert so much. Antonio is so innocent and Gil is so ignorant, it's refreshing." He mused.

"_Was? _ What did you say_, dummkopf?" _A grumpy voice muttered from a lump underneath the blanket in the backseat. I jumped in surprise. I hadn't even noticed the lump until it spoke and sat up. A man with pale skin and bright red eyes glared sleepily at Francis as he drove. He then proceeded to kick the back of Francis's chair.

"Francis… Who is _that_?"

"Ah, Gilbert! _Mon ami! _I forgot you were there." He said happily.

"Gilbert" blinked at him in surprise then let out a sound that sounded like a weird laugh. "_Kesesese_! Then does that mean you left Antonio in the trunk as well?"

"_Merde!" _Francis stopped the car suddenly, sending the German behind me without a seat belt flying into the back of Francis's seat.

"_Schei__β__e! _That hurt! And did you _really _leave him in the trunk?!"

Francis ignored him and quietly cursed in French as he made his way to the back of the car with the key. I followed him, curious if he really did lock someone in the trunk of his car. Gilbert followed, loudly chuckling.

The trunk was opened to the sleeping form of a very tan man curled up, looking quite content with his slumber despite his imprisonment. As the sunlight hit his eyelids, he blinked and yawned as he woke up. "Ah, _mi amigo, _I was wondering when you would remember." I gaped at him and how laid back he was after being confined in a trunk for who knows how long.

He sat up and stretched his limbs. His dark green eyes gazed at nothing in particular. "I bet Lovino is rather pissed with me." He said in a sleepy voice, as if he wasn't awake yet.

Gilbert groaned. "You're locked in a trunk for over 9 hours and the first thing you think about is if your interest of pedophile is angry with you? At least he can't physically harm you like Elizaveta or Ludwig."

Antonio chuckled. "True, Liz is a very violent woman when angry and is probably mad at you too for being out all night with Francis without inviting her and her camera again."

The albino groaned. "Don't remind me…."

"You can always share my bed with me." Francis offered with a wide smile only appropriate for bedroom manners.

He received a glare from the albino. "No way in hell!" He protested.

"There's plenty of room for both you and Liz." The Frenchman persisted.

"We both know Liz is more interested in what happens when she's just watching…" was the muttered reply.

I was just speechless during the entire conversation and was ignored until the sleepy Spaniard happened to see me. "Francis, I thought you weren't interested in younger boys." He said, motioning to me.

I gaped at him. "_Excuse me_?! Are you implying what I think you are?!"

"Oh, he's a fiery one, like Lovi! Now I understand." He smiled approvingly.

Francis chuckled. "_Non, _I just take care of him in the less fun way of providing food and shelter. I knew his father a long time ago. He moved to England and married a Brit. I never understood his fascination but I was willing to take this one for his last year of high school for study abroad purposes." He explained.

I bit back my retort at the bold faced lie. Instead, I sarcastically commented "Looks like _someone_ had an interesting night."

Francis merely chuckled before we piled into the car. The extra luggage was dropped off to an annoyed woman and an equally annoyed high school student, no older than Alfred was. I was silent the entire time.

The reason he took me in was because I had no father. The bastard fled to another woman the instant he knew mum was pregnant. Francis was just the friend of the bastard until this and offered to help anyway he could.

Mum remembered that promise once I got worse….

And sent me to America, the land of dreams and new lives…

_**o.V.o**_


	16. Chapter 15 The Heart

_o.V.o_

I passed out soon after I returned to my room, not even bothering to empty my pockets or anything. I woke up several hours later as my phone went off to tell me that someone had texted me. I growled at the phone, knowing who had texted me and disturbed the sleep I needed after the sleepless night.

I grabbed my phone and promised to make him regret disturbing me until I read the message. _"Hey, Artie. Can I ask you something?"_

_(Are you still going to ask whether I say no or bugger off?)_ I was surprised that he actually asked me to ask a question. I had a suspicious feeling that it was something he knew I'd be reluctant to talk about but tried to brush it off.

"_No, you don't have to answer if you don't want to and if you tell me not to ask in the first place, I won't."_ I was starting to get curious as I realized he was having a serious moment.

_(Well I'm curious now so just ask already.)_

"_Why do you cut?"_

I gulped and debated whether I should answer him or not.

…..

_It was when Wynn started changing. She had recently dyed her beautiful, wavy dark brown hair jet black. She added red highlights and straightened out the waves that used to frame her face so perfectly. She got a lip ring and started wearing dark make-up._

_I still thought she was beautiful even if she had changed how she looked so much. I thought she was more beautiful without all of the changes but this was what she wanted. I didn't say anything._

_She hadn't dated Collin yet though. She was still mostly okay and I could still reason with her._

_I was at the Ellidyr household, sitting in a desk chair in Wynn's room, watching as she petted a large black and white tom cat on her lap as her legs hung off the end of the bed. She was chewing her lip ring and looked ready to cry as she gently hugged the cat and quickly let go of him before he started to squirm._

_The animal purred and bumped her head with his own head, as if he was trying to comfort her. She sadly smiled at his attempts to cheer her up. I looked at the hand stroking the cat and at the bright red marks on the arm._

"_Well, I guess you would have found out sooner or later and I thought it would be better if I told you before you found out yourself." She finally said. I had arrived a few minutes earlier as soon as she had called me and asked me to come over. She had shown me a broken heart shaped cut on her right arm, almost evenly between her wrist and the bend of her elbow._

_I guess it made sense to be on her right arm since she was left handed, but it still looked bright red and painful. She had offered no explanation yet and I waited silently until she did._

"_Life is so long, it's depressing. No one knows what will happen even two seconds in the future. It's scary. And what if no one ever loves me? What if I end up alone? Everything constantly changes. One day you'll fall in love with a girl and I'll fall in love with a boy. You're likable so the girl will probably love you back but what about me?"_

_I listened quietly to her rant. "There isn't much to love about me. I'm worthless and no one can ever love me. I mean, all my attempts at dating have led nowhere. People only date me to make other girls jealous… I'm not worth the time of a real relationship." Tears began to fall down her face silently, streaking her eyeliner._

_I desperately wanted to tell her that it wasn't true, that there was a lot to love about her. I wanted to kiss her tears away gently and prove that she was very lovable. But I knew I was like a brother to her and that she would never return my feelings. I didn't want to lose her friendship so I restrained myself from kissing her._

_So I did the next best thing. I sat on the bed next to her and gave her a firm hug, refusing to let her go. The cat jumped off her lap as she turned to face me and bury her face into my chest. I tightened my hold on her as her body began to shake with tears and she cuddled closer into my arms._

_I gently stroked her hair and whispered everything was going to be ok and how I would beat up anyone else who hurt her. Her voice cracked as she tried to laugh through her tears. "You're too nice to beat anyone up." She tried to tease._

_I didn't say anything so she wouldn't know how I truly felt. Once she stopped crying I gently grabbed her arm with the cut. I gently ran my finger on the burning wounds and looked at her sadly when she gasped in pain._

"_What did you use to cut?" I asked._

_She wiped her face to dry it, smearing the streaked eyeliner. She pointed to a broken mirror. "A piece of glass. The knives were too dull…" She explained then she giggled a little. "It's not really funny but I was so upset at how ugly I was and smashed it. Then the glass looked too tempting. So I guess I indirectly cut myself because I was ugly."_

_I grabbed a shard from the mirror myself. I looked at her heart and at my left arm. Before she could realize what I was about to do, I carved the heart onto my left arm. I bit my lip to keep from gasping in pain and freaking her out even more than I probably already was. Once I finished, I grabbed a wash cloth and wiped off the blood._

"_Every time you cut from now on, I will see it as me failing you as your friend and I'll cut this heart again. No matter where you cut, if you cut again and I find out, I'll cut this heart so whenever you stop, I will have a scar to remind me how much I failed you. The darker and easier it is to see, the more I'll remember my failures."_

_She started to object but I stopped her. "You're not ugly and you've just had a bad habit of attracting assholes up until now. It'll change and one day you'll finally meet someone who's worth your time. Until then, I'll always be here for you." I smiled and joked a little "And the reason I didn't put the cut on my right arm like you is because I'm a perfectionist and right handed." She slightly smiled at my dark joke._

"_I'm not going to stop you from cutting." I continued. "But I feel responsible that I'm not a good enough friend to keep you from getting this sad in the first place."_

_She looked at my cut and the one on her arm. She gave a soft sigh and I realized she saw the reasonable approach was to just stop. She smiled at me._

"_We better hide our cuts really well until they heal then. If our mums saw this, they'd think it was something we're doing as a couple. I know they already wish we were one." She smiled apologetically at me then hugged me. "Thank you Kirkland. You're the best friend I could ever have, even if you suck at telling me 'no' when you probably should." She laughed a little. I hugged her back; secretly glad she couldn't see the loving smile I had as I enjoyed this moment of being the best _anything_ in her life._

…

Why I cut now was different from when I first started… I was now cutting because I had failed her completely… I had to always remember my promise and make sure the cut was always fresh to remind me of my failure… But to explain it to him would mean sharing that memory with him…

And revealing how horrible her suicide had been… What I had done that had been the final straw to drive her to it…

If I did, he would have probably become disgusted with me and leave. As this thought crossed my mind, I realized that although I thought I wanted him to leave me alone, I didn't want to lose him in that way.

I didn't want to tell him but for some reason I didn't want to _not_ answer him…. When had he managed to get past my first defense? Yet I just couldn't share that memory with him… Any memory of _her _was too precious - and too painful - to share for now…

_(It's… complicated… And it started months before I met you so it's a really long story.)_

"_Do you mind telling me? I won't push it if you say no but if you want to tell me, I'm willing to listen no matter how long the story is."_

I was surprised at how considerate he was being, especially after how hostile I usually was towards him. I decided to just give him the short answer and not tell him the full truth just yet. Something to satisfy him for now but not give him enough information to make him leave in disgust.

_(Someone very close to me committed suicide a while back… That's why I cut now…)_ I put my hand into my pocket to gently rub the locket.

"_What happened? Why did they do that?"_

_(I'm not ready to talk about that yet…) _

"_Ok. Sorry, I'm so curious about everything and mom always says it's her fault cause she always answers my questions ^^; Anyway, I'm bored Artieeee! What are you doing?" _

I got a feeling he changed the topic on purpose for my sake because after that he was his usual annoying self. We texted like normal for a while, him texting about how bored he was and me threatening to stop texting him every other message.

Not that I would stop texting… I couldn't say no to him, especially not now that I wanted to talk about anything, even threats and repetitive "I'm bored"s, to prevent myself from thinking about the one person I always thought about.

We continued to text late into the night until I fell asleep much later than I was used to. I blamed it on how late Alfred had kept me up on Saturday night and how I had slept half the day to make up for it. I suppressed the truth of how content I felt when I texted him. I wasn't ready to admit that to even myself yet.

_**o.V.o**_

**E/N: **Alright, so after this chapter updates may be a little slow. I know that I have three more chapters somewhat planned at least between this point and Halloween, it just might take me a couple of days to write them. So until then, try not to get upset if I'm not posting every day like I have for the past week.


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